Fighting the Fates
by Warlordess
Summary: Complete While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends run across a local Seer who says Ash and May are fated to be together! Then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. Whatever could they have to say about this? Poke x Contestshippy fic.
1. The Wheels Start to Spin

**Author **- Chibi / Warlordess

**Disclaimer **- I don't own anything. . . But Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire is coming out on DVD as of March of seventh and Misty's coming back as of April. . . first, wasn't it? So, either way, it doesn't matter, as the people who do run the shows around here are keeping up with all of it a lot better than I ever could.

OoO

**Fiction Title **- "Fighting the Fates"

**Chapter One **- "The Wheels Start to Spin"

**Summary **- While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends stumble across a local fortuneteller who says. . . dun, dun, dun! Ash and May are destined to be together! And then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. . . Whatever could they have to say about this? Pokeshippy and Contestshippy fic. Tee hee. :)

**Ages **-

Ash / 15

May / 13

Misty / 16

Drew / 14

Brock / 18

Max / 10

OoO

"Oh, wow, guys! Look at that. . . !" May said, eliciting a squeal and revving her motors as she ran at full speed for another one of the shops at the Sootopolis shopping center. Her arms, not to mention those of Ash, Brock, and her brother, Max, were already full of bags, but she didn't hesitate to check the price tags on a certain few items, including a new pair of slacks and a golden bracelet with a ruby jewel in the center.

"May. . . !" Max whined, "Look, where do you think you're going to put all this anyway? We're travelers! And since when can you afford it?"

"For your information. . ." And here she turned to face him, stalking in his direction and looking mortally offended at the remark he'd made, insinuating that she hadn't been holding her own weight beforehand, ". . . I've been competing very well lately, haven't I, Ash, Brock?" She turned to the other two.

"Yea, you have, actually. . ." The oldest of the group stuck up for her, though he was still frowning, "I still think it's for the best, however, to save some of the profits for later on. Who knows what we might need them for. I mean, we do have other living things to care for besides ourselves."

"Pika. . . !" Pikachu cried from Ash's shoulder, and Ash gave a loud yawn as his stomach rumbled.

"Yea, I guess you're right. . ." May sighed, putting down the slacks and the bracelet.

"Great, good for you, May! You've come a long way! I see that those self-help books we bought you have really helped." Ash laughed when she stuck out her tongue at him, "Anyway, can we go get something to eat?"

"Right, right. . . And I see the self-help books we bought _you _haven't done a thing at all. . ." She commented as the group of four made their way out of one of the large department stores and down the wide hall, towards the food-court. They passed plenty of shops and things along the way, all of them glamorous in their own way, selling monumentously different things, from jewelry to clothes, books to holiday specialty items, flowers to gift cards, dollar-cheap things to DVD's and CD's, and then. . .

"Hey, what's that up there?" Max asked, pointing, and everyone turned and saw a large crowd of people muddled around a wide spot. It looked like it had formerly been renovated to include a new store, but there was nothing there now accept wide, gaping black drapes set high into the ceiling, and the drapes seemed to sparkle mysteriously somehow. As Ash, May, Brock, and Max got closer, they managed to catch sight of a sign just to the right of the crowd of people.

". . . 'Your future is fleeting; get it read today while you have the chance.'" May quoted. "Fortune-telling. . . ? Oh, how. . . _romantic_, somehow! That's so cool, and it says it's only ten dollars! I think this could be fun! Can we do it, Brock?" She turned and looked up at him and he seemed to think about it.

"I don't know. . . I mean, really. . . Who wants to trust their future to the 'all-knowing mind' of a mall seer? And for only ten dollars? It doesn't even sound worth it. . ."

"Oh, but please? Please, please, please, please, _please_. . . ?" She puckered her lip and Ash, his stomach rumbling hungrily again, rolled his eyes.

"Brock, let her have a go at it. The sooner she gets this done, the sooner I can head over to the food-court for my two double-bacon-cheeseburgers and four slices of pizza."

"Alright, alright. . . !" And the future Breeder waved her off as she parted through the watching crowd, just in time for two people, a girl with long brown hair in braids, and some guy with short bluish-green hair, to find out the fate of their long-term relationship.

"It will never last. . ." Said someone sitting at the front of the crowd; Ash, May, Brock, and Max turned to see the fortuneteller, a woman with heavy eyelids looking like she was always half-asleep. Her voice was very deep somehow, yet still soft and feminine. She had this way of keeping a person enthralled with her no matter what she said or did. At the sound of her words, however, the girl who had been standing before her, broke away from the boy she'd been holding onto and ran wildly away from him, tears leaking from her eyes. The boy didn't dare try to stop her.

"Er, h - hey. . ." May started, knowing that she probably shouldn't interfere, but feeling just a bit bad that something that seemed so nice had ended so suddenly, ". . . don't you think you should go after. . . Oh, no. . . It's _you_!"

"Well, if it isn't May, and her friends! Have you come to get your fortunes read, too?" Drew said, after turning to grace her with his presence. His ever-present smirk was still fixated where it always was, and he was holding a rose, too, and May looked expectant, as though waiting for him to throw it at her, and when he didn't, she tried not to look hurt.

"Actually, yes, I am. But that's not something you need to stick around for. Why don't you go try and catch up with your girlfriend, Drew? She was looking a bit hurt, there." At the thought of Drew and said girl, May seemed just a bit more haughty.

"I don't have a girlfriend." May blinked at that statement and then stuttered, "This fortuneteller thrives on the futures, the bonds, of two souls. That girl was a member of my fan club. . . When she found out that I was coming into town, for whatever reason, she assumed that it would be in my best interest to accompany her here and find out if we were meant to be together. . ." At the thought of it all, Drew was looking suddenly harassed, and he placed one hand to the back of his head and glanced over his shoulder, as though trying to see if anyone was following him.

"Er. . . I - I'm sorry for you, I guess. . ." Although, for some reason, May was feeling a lot better, and the whole thing seemed hilarious to her now. Although she was attempting to contain the urge to laugh, she couldn't, and she turned around to keep Drew from seeing, sure that he would be upset or offended or something. "St - still, even if she was a, er, a kind of. . . stalker - crazy. . ." She broke off to laugh again before continuing, ". . . This fan of yours, Drew. . . She really did like you, didn't she? You should at least apologize, I think." And here she finally turned back to face him again, and she saw that he was a bit red in the face.

"That is unnecessary." Everyone turned to see the fortuneteller staring almost blankly at May, "I see the truth, and this girl. . . Whoever she is, whatever she came to me for. . . The repercussions shall not matter. She knows what I see, she knows what it is she came to me for. The results of her questioning such fates should not be tampered with."

"O - okay, then. . . I'm glad we've cleared that up, at least. . ." May said, saluting the woman for doing such a wonderful job at confusing her. She turned back to continue her conversation with Drew, but he had already turned around and continued walking off. "Hey, what. . . ?"

"I guess I do owe her a bit of an apology. She dragged me here, yea, but it was only because she wanted to know if there was a future for us. When one person feels a certain way for the other, it can't be helped that they might do stupid things. . . So I'll see you later, May, I've got something to do for now." He faced her again for about two seconds and threw her the rose he'd been holding, and any anger, any aggravation she'd been feeling against him for his behavior, slipped away almost immediately.

And then he was gone.

". . . How does he do that. . . ?" She asked herself when she noticed that her cheeks had started to turn just a bit crimson.

". . . Gee, I dunno, May. . . I'm sure he just plans on finding where the girl ran off to, and saying that he's sorry that things didn't turn out the way she'd hoped they would originally. . ." Ash said, his hands behind his head in a nonchalant way as she gave him a half-glare in frustration, ". . . Although, if you ask me, it's a bit too much trouble to be going through for a girl, isn't it. . . ?"

May chose to ignore him. She turned back to the woman and slammed a ten dollar bill down onto the table in a secure sort of way, as though proving that she was sure of what she was doing to everyone around her, and then stared directly into the woman's eyes.

"I want to know my future. . ." May said confidently, "Er, please." She amended a second later.

The woman sighed for some reason, and May blinked, confused. And then the woman turned to face Brock, who was half-glaring back at her.

"I sense your doubt in me." She told him simply, and it seemed to shock Brock that she knew that about him so clearly. "It's not the first time that someone has thought so lowly of my art, but I think you should know that it clouds my mind when dark thoughts interfere with my channeling at such a close range. . . If you must belittle my abilities, please, do it at a distance. . ."

Now that Ash and everyone had gotten close enough, they could finally see everything that was there. Ash had to admit, he'd been expecting a bit much more than what there was. . . Maybe something like a crystal ball, star charts, tea ceremonies, things like that. . . After all, he heard that foretelling the future had a lot to do with astronomy and foggy-glass picture-gazing. . . But there was nothing here other than the black drapes, the chair that the woman was sitting on, and the table. There was a small tin box that was keeping the money she was making from her charges sitting in front of her as well, but other than that. . .

"Yea, Brock. . . !" May said, now looking just as annoyed, "If you're going to get in the way of my fortune being read, go away! This means a lot to me and your bad vibes are ruining it!" She huffed and crossed her arms, and Brock threw his hands up into the air, stomping his foot.

"Look, if I leave you here, you're going to end up spending the rest of our training profits on useless things. . . I guess I'll just have to put my personal feelings aside for now. . ."

"Spring. . ." The woman said quite suddenly, and May turned back to face her first of all, looking just a bit shocked, followed by everyone else.

"W - what?"

"You are Spring, my dear." The woman placed her left hand onto the table in a strangely straight way. It looked pearlescent somehow, and the flesh seemed to glow white against the dark wood of the surface beneath it. "You are Spring, you have always been associated with the colors of life, and the brightness of the sun, the flare of the light. Life, vibrant, is within you, kindness and serenity are your most profound traits and they will be the two that get you the farthest in your profession. . ."

Suddenly she turned to Ash and placed her right hand symmetrically beside her other.

"You are Autumn. You burn of a passion, a courage, to protect your family and friends that has brought you far, though you have faced many tribulations. . ." At this point, Ash turned and quirked an eyebrow at Brock as though asking whether or not the future Breeder was still disbelieving to the woman's craft, "The wind at your back forces you onward, and you are determined never to stay in one place for very long, and thus, you continue to move from destination to destination. . ." The woman sighed again and both Ash and May stared as she withdrew both of her hands and replaced them onto the table, palms up, ". . . I see. . ."

"Er, what do you see?" Ash asked, and May nodded, gulping anxiously as she leaned in, not wanting to miss a word.

"You two, a Spring and an Autumn, it is a very. . . _decent _thing for two such as yourselves to be acquainted with each other at such ripe ages!" The woman nodded affirmatively as she went on in a much firmer tone. "You're lucky, you are."

"Lucky. . . ?" May asked, "Why?"

"I don't think I like where this is going. . ." Ash groaned.

"I decree that you two would be very well-suited for one another. . ."

Ash and May continued to stare, as did everyone else.

". . . for the rest of your lives."

"Wh - what. . . ?" May squeaked again, as though hardly daring to believe it.

"You can't be serious!" Ash said in a much louder tone, seemingly first to recover. In the background, Brock and Max looked ready to break out into peals of laughter.

"Yea, what? That doesn't make any sense! Er. . ." May turned a bit red here and broke off, slightly abashed, ". . . does it?"

"No, it can't!" Ash continued in her place, "I mean, I'm two years older than you! We don't know each other well enough! _You _don't know us well enough to tell us that we're meant to be, let alone what you just said doesn't make any sense! And, well, no offense, May, but I don't really have any interest in you, at least, not in that way. . ." He finished in a mumble.

The crowd that had been there before Ash, May, Brock, and Max had arrived, the crowd that had been silent for the most part beforehand, seemed to strike up a slight of conversation at this point. Some of the people seemed to agree with Ash and May on the finer points of detail. . . but others were adamant about the fortunetellers skills.

". . . You do not understand. . . !" The woman started in explanation, but Ash was growing weary of the entire ordeal, and as he still hadn't gotten his lunch, he was beginning to feel mighty temperamental.

"No, _you _don't understand, lady! I'm tired, hungry, and you just got done telling me that I'm destined to be with my thirteen year old friend, May, who I don't have any type of romantic feelings for! You may be good at telling us if we've been through the wringer over the years of our training or whatever, but you don't get to decide whether or not we end up destined to spend the rest of our lives with a certain person, okay?" He finished with a huff, "Now. . . I'm starving, and if I don't get my double-bacon-cheeseburgers and pizza soon, heads are gonna roll. Who's with me?"

He turned to his friends and, not wanting to upset him any further, May, Max, and Brock began to follow after him, but he hadn't even taken three steps when the woman called after him, and what she had to say made him stop in his tracks.

"I did not say that you were _destined _to spend the rest of your lives together."

He faced her again, sighed frustratedly, unsure as to why he cared what the difference was.

"What's it matter? Isn't all of this soulmate-stuff the same?"

"'_Soulmate_-_stuff'_? Dear, you belittle reality. There is no such thing." Ash blinked, but let her go on. "There's no such thing as destiny, fate, or a. . . soulmate. There is a certain level of compatibility between every two people, however, and you two. . ." And here the woman nodded between him and May, ". . . share quite a lot of it. This is the same for every Spring and Autumn, of course, certain personal traits aside. Your traits are beautifully in tune, aren't they? Serenity, courage, kindness, passion; they are all links of the same well-oiled chain, and one with no diversity. A relationship between the two of you would be, well, near perfect."

Ash and May just stared at her. So did everyone else. They blinked, and then they turned away and began walking towards the food-court again, as though the whole course of their adolescent lives hadn't just possibly been altered.

"There won't be any type of relationship, lady, believe us." Ash and May said at the same time, and the crowd actually began to boo and hiss at them in retaliation to this conclusion.

"Wait just a moment, dears. . . !" They didn't stop walking away this time, knowing that, if they did, they might end up being wrapped up once again into another foolish fortune-telling bargain, "Destiny or not, it is not wise to ignore what you've been dealt by those who're wiser than you, children! There are consequences, and ignoring what awaits you will only make them worse. . . !"

Ash, May, and everyone else thoughtlessly ignored her.

OoO

**Notes **- Oh, no, I've started another one! Crap! Then again, this one is likely to be shorter. . . I think. . . And I couldn't help it. . . It sounded like a funny idea. Heh. And it's cool to think that Ash and May find it just as ludicrous as we do, that they're a couple. Heh. Yea, and next chapter, I think, I'll have Drew and Misty find out about the whole thing, but I dunno if Misty will actually make it over to Hoenn or not. . . Brock's going to call her to let her know, you see. . . ? Heh. Yea. . . Uhm. . . What to do about it?

God, I need help. I need to stop coming up with fic idea's. I need to stop writing up fics when I've still got plenty of other things to write. Uhm, thanks to **gladdecease **and **Silverflare07 **for their friendly-ships (heh!) with me 'cause it's making me feel a bit better. I've been feeling really depressed recently (lots of thoughts of suicide, although, now that I think about it, **gladdecease **doesn't even know about _that_) and I'm planning that, since it's because I've been spending so much time with my mom (whose not such a fun person anymore), I plan on taking some time away from her. So, yea.

Anyway, should I continue with this fic first, or "The Strangest Kind of Love"? Heh.


	2. Brock's Broken Misty

**Author **- Chibi / Warlordess

**Disclaimer **- I don't own anything. . . But Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire is coming out on DVD as of March of seventh and Misty's coming back as of April. . . first, wasn't it? So, either way, it doesn't matter, as the people who do run the shows around here are keeping up with all of it a lot better than I ever could.

OoO

**Fiction Title **- "Fighting the Fates"

**Chapter Two **- "Brock's Broken Misty!"

**Summary **- While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends stumble across a local fortuneteller who says. . . dun, dun, dun! Ash and May are destined to be together! And then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. . . Whatever could they have to say about this? Pokeshippy and Contestshippy fic. Tee hee. :)

**Ages **-

Ash / 15

May / 13

Misty / 16

Drew / 14

Brock / 18

Max / 10

OoO

May groaned. Ash groaned. Max and Brock attempted to hide back their laughter. They failed. May and Ash succeeded in kicking them under the table. Brock and Max cried. Thus was the chronological order of events that took place after returning to the Sootopolis Pokemon Center.

The group was sitting in a booth in the lobby of the Center, hoping to forget everything they'd learned about their "compatibility" with one another thanks to the fortuneteller from the mall, but without much luck. It was rather hard, you see, when the person that you were supposed to be so well-off with was sitting right next to you. Not that Ash and May really thought that way about each other; there was not to be any misunderstanding anywhere along the way.

They were just friends.

But it was definitely going to be hard to convince everyone else of that when people like. . . well. . . like Brock and Max, people who were supposed to be their closest friends, kept making kissy-kissy faces at them and pointing towards broom-cupboards and handing them "Do not disturb" signs to hang on the bedroom doors for if they wanted to spend some time alone together later that day.

Ash and May sighed in unison; it was all really beginning to become too much to bear. Not only were Brock and Max refusing to relent in their humor, but the two jokers were beginning to become accustomed to the pain, so whenever the "lovers" chose to retaliate to their horrible pranks, the effects that wore on were paining the two of them less and less.

"Ash, why don't you just give into your desires?" Brock sighed despondently, feigning depression, "After all, if I had been told that my soulmate was but a few paces away, I'd only be too willing to believe it. . ."

Ash groaned again.

"Pika. . ." Pikachu attempted to comfort his trainer, patting him on the head as he looked up at his friend sitting next to him.

"Brock, that's not will, that's desperation. Anyway, why are we still talking about this? What is with your obsession with me and May? Do you and Max have some sick and twisted interest in our unhappiness?"

May blinked, "Unhappiness? Huh? C'mon, Ash, really. . . I mean. . . What is it? Am I not your type?" She put on a hurt look, her eyes watering up and her cheeks flushing crimson so that she seemed very pouty and Ash began stuttering in a way that showed he knew he'd done something wrong, but he didn't know how to make it better.

"I, er. . . I mean, it's not that, it's. . ." He turned red, muttered something unintelligibly, and then spoke in a very high-pitched voice again, ". . . It's nothing to do with that, or you, or. . . !"

"What he means to say, is. . ." And here Brock took up the microphone and Ash glanced his way appreciatively, ". . . that he's already in love with Misty and there's no way that you'll ever be able to measure up so you shouldn't even bother trying. Tough luck, May."

"W - what?" Ash said, now looking even more horrified, both at the blunt confession of his undying affection for his best friend of Cerulean City and for the straight-forward way the Breeder had told the Coordinator of it. He quickly turned back to face May again, sure that she'd be even more upset now, sure that she'd probably even get violent, attempt to throw something at him. . .

. . . She was smiling.

"Oh, c'mon, Ash. You really are a bit dense. . . I was kidding the whole time." She sighed in an over-dramatic way and swept a conscious hand to her forehead, "It's something all girls are born with, a talent, how to act." She grinned at him, then turned and scratched Pikachu's chin as the Pokemon trainer continued to look half-shocked and half-angry at this news, "But that's sweet, how you feel for Misty."

Ash seemed to be thinking of the best way to reply to this, but the only thing he could come up with was, ". . . Eh."

Brock, clearing his throat, continued the conversation, "Speaking of Misty, it's been awhile since we called her, hasn't it?" His grin seemed to have turned malevolent. Ash almost flinched as he looked at it. "Why don't we give her a shot and. . . fill her in on all that's gone on as of late. . . ?"

Ash and May's responses were instantaneous.

"NO!"

Their shouts gained the attention of half of the Center, and among the throng of the anonymous trainers. . .

"It's you guys again? So, what? Have you begun to stalk me, too?" Drew asked, sweeping a hand through his (beautiful, soft, ocean-hue) hair and smirking arrogantly as he made his way over to them. If nothing else, they groaned again, and Ash and May banged their heads against the table of the booth they were sitting at. Seeing Drew reminded them of all that had happened just a few hours ago. Drew stared at the two of them in particular at this response. "What? Not happy to see me?"

"Oh, not now, Drew. . ." May moaned, turning away, "We're not in the mood for your attitude."

Drew stood there for a couple of moments, and he seemed to be thinking about something. And then his eyes widened as though something had just come to mind and he leaned against the back of their booth, and, if possible, his slight smirk returned in an even more secure way than before.

"That's right, May, you went to have your fortune read, didn't you. . . ?" He had one of his roses out, and he was staring at it as though it was the most interesting thing in the world. May stared at it, too, refusing to look at him, because if she did, she might not have been able to look away. "So. . . what was it that she told you? Was it something to do with your future as a Coordinator? Like, maybe, the fact that you'd always be second best to your ever-dashing rival?"

"You wish!" May shouted, rising to the bait and jumping to her feet. Half of her wanted to tell him right then and there that the fortuneteller had said she and Ash were. . . well. . . "compatible" as life-mates, but the other half was a little worried of his reaction. How would he feel? Would he just congratulate them and walk away, as if nothing had changed? Would he feel a thrill of jealous rage and rip Ash from his seat, throwing a punch and telling him that if he laid a hand on "his girl" that he'd live to regret it?

And suddenly May faltered, feeling her face turn scarlet.

Drew turned to her and blinked, obviously waiting for her continuation of a comeback. That couldn't have been all she had, could it? Unfortunately, May seemed to have blown a fuse and had short-circuited. Max, sensing this, stepped forward, pushing his older sister away so that she didn't end up embarrassing herself anymore.

"Sorry, but she'll have to get back to you on that one," he told Drew as he did so, and Drew nodded, just slightly confused as to what had transpired. As soon as the Beech siblings were out of sight, he turned to Brock and Ash again, pointing his rose after them questioningly.

"Er. . . ? What was that about?" He asked.

"I'm not so sure. . . but it might have had something to do with the fact that Ash and May are fated to fall in love and get married and have lots of little May's and Ash's together, running around, Thunderbolting girl's bikes and attracting Fire-type Pokemon. . ." Brock said, smirking, and Ash growled.

"Brock!" He jumped to his feet, kicking his older friend as he untangled himself from the booth. Drew, who'd still been leaning against the back of the seat, felt himself slip, and fell ungraciously to the floor. He attempted to look unfazed as he replied to what had he'd just heard.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, the fortuneteller said something like Ash and May had a lot of traits that were well in-tune with one another and that if they were to be in a relationship together, it could last forever." And then Brock sighed, looking serious. "But they won't listen to me when I tell them that they should actually try to pay attention to what their elder's say to them. . ."

"That's because our most trusted 'elder' is a perverted Breeder-in-the-making with no eyes!" Ash commented exasperatedly, finally making his way out of the booth and stepping up to Drew's side, "Need a hand?" He said, holding one of his own out, and Drew nodded, accepting it. "It doesn't matter about destiny, or anything. If you don't feel a certain way for someone, then it's not fair to say you want to be with them, right?" He asked, and Drew nodded, although he wasn't sure if the question was rhetorical or not. "And I don't feel that way for May, so you don't have to worry."

". . . Me?" He asked, "Why would I have to worry in the first place?"

"Er, you or any other guy, then." Ash gave a sheepish laugh, "Yea, that's what I meant."

OoO

In the Woman's Washroom, May felt the cool rush of water against her face and sighed despondently, finally recovered from the incident having taken place beforehand. She just couldn't understand it, what had happened. Drew had always been so rude and obnoxious; at least, when he wasn't being witty, handsome, and courteous. . .

"Ugh, how annoying. . . !" She exclaimed as she dried off her face, just in time for her brother to call out from beyond the bathroom door.

"Are you okay now, May?" And he actually sounded a little worried for her. . .

"I'm fine, Max, no need to call the paramedics or anything. . ." She replied.

"Then what happened?" And her laugh faltered again immediately, her face flushing unexpectedly at the thought. Ugh. What _had _happened? She didn't even want to _think _about it. . . "I mean, you're not very good at confrontation anyway, but you've never just stood there and let Drew come at you like that. . . If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a stress-related collapse. . . maybe caused by _some newly discovered feelings for someone_. . . ?" Her brother ended in a slow, serious tone, and May felt herself cripple slowly but surely under the truth of the matter.

"I. . . I mean, no. . . That can't be. . . it. . ." She turned to face the large mirror and gave herself a good, long, and hard look, ". . . Not for _him_. . ."

"Yea. . . I wouldn't have expected you to fall for Ash either, May, but beggars can't be choosers, you know? So if you think that there's a chance that the fortuneteller's right, then you'd better come out with it now while you've got the time, because. . ." Max could tell that wherever he was going with his statement was the wrong place because he could sense the dark waves wafting from underneath the door.

"I. Do. Not. Love. Ash." May said in a loud and clear voice that easily reached him. She stomped out of the bathroom and stood before him in all of her older-sister glory, bearing down upon him with an evil look upon her face. "Look, Max, I appreciate your enthusiasm in the matter, but I really don't feel anything for Ash other than friendship; whatever happened earlier had nothing to do with him, believe me! It had to do with. . ." And here she glanced at Drew, felt her cheeks turn slightly pink, and then faced her kid brother again, ". . . yea, not Ash. So get over it. . . What's wrong. . . ?" For Max was looking just a bit troubled.

"I'm thinking about what the woman was telling us, remember when we were walking away from her? She said that even if what you and Ash had wasn't destiny, choosing to ignore it would probably cause a good deal of trouble. . . Do you think she had a point. . . ? I'm just worried for you and Ash is all. . . and you know, it's your fault."

"Huh? What? How is it _my _fault?" May asked, angry.

"Well, you're the one who was interested in learning what your future held for you to begin with, remember? Not us. Your the one who led us to the woman. Not us. Your the one who pleaded with Brock to agree to let you spend another ten dollars on that last thing, and then paid her to tell you what you wanted to know. Not us. . . You see where I'm going with this yet?" He asked her, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose in a geeky manner.

"Fine; yea, I get it. I may have inadvertently ruined mine and Ash's lives, and I'm sorry. Whoopsy-daisy. Can we move on now?" After a look from her younger brother, she sighed again and rubbed unenthusiastically at the back of her neck, "Right, right; I get it. . . I know I dragged everyone into this, and I'll go and apologize. . . but only after Drew's gone. I'd rather not let him find out that Ash and I are meant to be together, you know? Who knows how he'd react to that?"

Max didn't fully understand what she meant by asking him that question, but turned and pointed either way, "Er. . . Too late. I think he just found out."

May looked around too in time to see her rival hit the ground, hard, in a very unflattering position. She'd never seen Drew fall before, and for the very simple explanation that Drew never fell. She had a feeling that, if she were to ever ask him why that was, he would tell her that it was because he was inexplicably flawless. She rolled her eyes at the thought, but her inner-irritation lasted only two seconds before she understood. . .

. . . Drew _knew_. . .

"Oh, no. . . !" She moaned, looking horrified, and took off again for the booth that the group had been sitting at earlier, trying to think of an explanation that would fit best for the whole thing, but then, how would she explain to him why she was defending herself against him? Ugh. How annoying. Max followed after her as well. "Er, hi guys; h - how's it going?"

"So, May, it turns out that you've got something of a great future going for you after all." Whoa, what a look Drew was giving her as he said that. . . It wasn't a look that she could place, but it was definitely _a _look. Yea, it meant nothing, did it?

"Uh, er. . . y - yea. . . You know. . . 'Cause m - me and Ash, yea. . . We. . ." She attempted to say something witty in return, but it died instantly in her throat. "No way! That fortuneteller was way wrong! Ugh; she has no idea what she's talking about, or hasn't Ash told you yet that we don't have anything going for us? Nothing she says is going to change that!"

Brock, standing in the background with his hands behind his back, began humming a wedding march under his breath. Ash and May turned and glared.

"So, then, you guys really don't think that there's any chance at all that she's right? But her predictions have been known to be one-hundred percent accurate! Why else do you think she was drawing such a crowd?" And Drew quirked an eyebrow in question.

Brock changed his tune quickly from the wedding march, to Mandy Moore.

"'I've got a crush on you! I hope you feel the way that I do. . . !'" He sung off-key.

"Hey, Brock? Isn't that Nurse Joy? She's looking so attractive today, isn't she? Or have you turned gay? You know, I hear James from Team Rocket has shown a sudden interest in you. . . Maybe you should get a start on proving your manhood." Ash stated dryly.

Brock's jaw dropped and he leapt madly for the front desk of the Center, leaving the rest of the group alone. Max, taking a leaf out of the Breeder's book, chose to chill out for a while.

"I'll go with him and make sure that he doesn't go too far. We don't need anymore restraining orders." He ruffled a hand through his dark hair and went after the oldest member of the group, who was back to his usual, useless flirt of a self in an instant.

"Me, too." Ash said, and followed after the other two.

"So. . ." May started up in conversation again, sensing that she and Drew were alone, ". . . Look, have you ever heard the saying that there's a first time for everything? Well, Ash and I are clearly just friends, and I'm not interested in him. . . I don't plan on ever being interested in him. . ." She allowed herself a grin, "There's nothing for you to be worried about."

Drew blinked, and then, in explanation of a scoff, "Maybe you're misunderstanding me. I'm not worried. After all, I'm not so superstitious as to believe in something as destiny. . . And fortunetelling is a very off way to try and figure out how your life's going to turn out, isn't it? Only those who aren't confident about themselves would resort to such means. . . And that means that _I _would never do that on my own."

"Oh. . ." For once, she wasn't inclined to fight back. She was rather disappointed, however, that he hadn't seemed to be affected by the fact that he might have been close to. . . "losing" her, maybe? . . . to Ash. She hadn't been hoping for anything concrete, like a confession of undying love and affection, but something, anything, to show that he was even just slightly liable to care about the situation at all. . . "Well, I guess that this is all for now, then. I'll see you next time, Drew." And she waved at him and gave him half a smile to show that it was at least on good terms that they were to depart, and he seemed to falter in his stance.

"What's that mean?"

"Well, don't you have places to go, fans to avoid, autographs to sign? And Ash, the others, and I are gonna stick it out here in Sootopolis for the next couple of days to give the Pokemon a break, so. . ." Drew was looking at her with the strangest expression on his face.

". . . I think that I deserve a bit of a vacation," he replied, not looking her in the eye, and walking towards the front desk to sign out a room at the Center.

Somehow, that was enough for her.

OoO

It was hours later, and most of the occupants of the Sootopolis Pokemon Center were asleep. A tall figure slowly and carefully made his way from the back, across the threshold, and into the lobby. It was amazing that he could see anything, especially as, just as his friend had said to him earlier that day, he had no eyes, but he made his way stealthily over to one of the video-phones beside the front door just the same and picked up the receiver, dialing for the operator.

". . . I'm trying to reach the Cerulean City Gym." He said in the clearest whisper he could muster, knowing that anything louder would reach his friends, and that said friends would then commit murder. "Er, thank you." Brock drummed his fingers on the counter as he listened to the automatic ringing of the phone placing the call through, and then, thinking ahead, flipped on the video-signal, and the monitor switched on.

". . . Good morning, this is Misty of the Cerulean City Gym speaking; how may I help you today?" Came a bored reply from the other end of the line, and Brock raised an eyebrow, suppressing a laugh. It would be morning there, wouldn't it? And it would be early, too, considering, meaning that there probably wouldn't have been time for any trainers to have come and issued a challenge for a Cascade badge as of yet.

Nevertheless, she needn't sound so uninterested. Well. . . he knew one way to change that attitude, whether it was for better or worse.

"Hey, Misty? It's Brock; can you turn on your video monitor?"

"Oh, thank God, I thought I was going to die if someone didn't try to call me up soon!" She said, and he heard her shuffle some useless items around to find the said switch, ". . . So, what's been going on lately with you guys? I haven't heard from you in a while. Isn't it late wherever you are? Where's May, and Max, and. . . Ash?" She seemed to be trying not to sound too excited at the thought of her best friend as he heard a click and her face appeared quite suddenly, looking excited at the sight of him.

"Oh, actually, they're. . . sleeping, but that's okay, because I wanted to talk to you on my own!" He said as her face fell at the news.

"Er, this isn't gonna fall into the category of some declaration of everlasting love, is it. . . ?" She asked, sounding as though she thought it were truly possible of him, "I mean, I know you've been rejected a million times over, Brock, but, you know, it's not time to throw in the towel, I don't think. You should keep at it for a little while longer, you never know, you might still be able to find a girl whose crazy enough to. . ."

". . . Whose crazy?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow, "Never mind. I don't want to know. But, yea, there's this thing that happened recently, actually, today, and I thought that it was something you'd want to know, given your, er, condition. . ." He stared pointedly at her until her face flushed bright red and they both reached a silent understanding. ". . . Right. Well, it's about Ash and May, and, well, you may not like it, but it's got to do with their future. . ." And he began the long tale of the group's trek through the Sootopolis shopping center leading up to their visit to the fortuneteller, ". . . And I don't know whether or not you believe in that type of stuff anyway, because I don't, but. . . well, the woman said that Ash and May. . . she said they had a lot of stuff in common, things that mattered when in a long-term relationship with one another. . . She said that they'd do well to spend the rest of their lives together. . ."

He held the receiver away from his ear, fully expecting her to blow up at him at this news, but she didn't seem to have anything to say in response. He faced the monitor and saw her staring back at him, or through him, or something like that, her jaw slack, her eyes slightly wide, her grip on the phone slipping in such a way that it fell a moment later and clattered as it hit the floor. It seemed that whether or not she believed in fortunetelling, she still thought that the opinion that Ash and May were well-suited for one another was worth something in itself. . .

"Er. . . Misty. . . ? Misty. . . ! A - are you gonna wake up? Hello?" Brock attempted to rouse her from her catatonic state by waving at her through the screen, shouting into the receiver, forgetting that it was nowhere near her ear in any case, sighing, "Hey, you don't really have to worry, it's not like they feel that way for each other. . . C'mon, Misty, listen to me. . . I just thought it was funny, really." But she didn't seem to be paying any attention to him. "Oh, would you get over it? If you really think that there's any chance at all of Ash running off with some other girl, let alone with May, then you should get over here and look after him for yourself! I mean, think about it! The best way to prevent him from being snagged by someone else is to get him first, right?"

She still didn't reply. It seemed that she didn't have anything to say to him after all. Growing irritated by her lack of a response, Brock ran a hand through his hair; he was also just a bit worried, and not just for Misty. At this point, he'd be in trouble, too, not to mention. . .

His eyes widened at the thought and, losing himself, he hung up and ran across the Pokemon Center lobby and down the back hallway that led to the guestrooms that the trainer's reserved for overnight stays. He made it back to the one he and the rest of his friends had saved for themselves, crept back inside, and found his way to Ash's side in no time.

Ash, just like every other normal person at one in the morning, was snoring peacefully. Not caring at all if he disturbed his friend's sleeping pattern, Brock began shaking Ash forcefully awake.

"Ash. . . Ash. . . ! Get up. . . !" Brock whispered as loudly as he could without waking up either May or Max, who were both sleeping on the top bunks of the two bunk beds, "Damnit, Ash; I think. . . I - I'm sorry but. . . I think I broke Misty!"

OoO

**Notes **- Whoa, that was fun to write. Lotsa fun, really; heh. Anyway, yea, I hope to have the next chapter up within another week or so, if I can help it. . . Uhm, what else should I be saying right now? Er, thanks for the reviews you guys gave me (to those of you who weren't too lazy to actually review, **Jillie Rose**), and I hope to get just as many this time around, if not more, as long as FFN will actually let me upload this stupid chapter when I want to! (Ugh, stupid site, I swear to. . . not God, but. . .)

Anyway, yes, what do you all think so far? Is the fic funny? Is it. . . er. . . romantic? Is Drew horribly out of character? Unfortunately, I've only seen about thirty minutes of him in the anime all-together, and while I clearly support him and May together, and while I have this horrible obsession with him and his luscious, hot, sparkly hair. . . _Yea_. . . It's just not something I can help at this point, you know? We'll just have to live with it. Is anyone else out of character? (Or at least, so out of character that it should be dealt with immediately, or else I should just stop writing fics for ever and eternity?)


	3. The Homicidal Redhead

**Author **- Chibi / Warlordess

**Disclaimer **- I don't own anything. . . But Misty's coming back as of April. . . first, wasn't it? So, either way, it doesn't matter, as the people who do run the show around here are keeping up with all of it a lot better than I ever could.

OoO

**Fiction Title **- "Fighting the Fates"

**Chapter Three **- "The Homicidal Redhead"

**Summary **- While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends stumble across a local fortuneteller who says. . . dun, dun, dun! Ash and May are destined to be together! And then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. . . Whatever could they have to say about this? Pokeshippy and Contestshippy fic. Tee hee. :)

**Ages **-

Ash / 15

May / 13

Misty / 16

Drew / 14

Brock / 18

Max / 10

OoO

_Ash, just like every other normal person at one in the morning, was snoring peacefully. Not caring at all if he disturbed his friend's sleeping pattern, Brock began shaking Ash forcefully awake._

_"Ash. . . Ash. . . ! Get up. . . !" Brock whispered as loudly as he could without waking up either May or Max, who were both sleeping on the top bunks of the two bunk beds, "Damnit, Ash; I think. . . I - I'm sorry but. . . I think I broke Misty!"_

Ash moaned something discernible in his stupor, but didn't seem to wake up. Brock drew a deep breath, regaining a sense of control over himself that he would have needed to keep, lest he end up shouting and ordering Pikachu to use its Thunder attacks for all that they were worth. Instead, he returned to shaking the younger Pokemon trainer awake.

"Wake. . . up. . . !" And with a particularly hard nudge, Brock managed to pull Ash towards him, and the raven-haired boy fell off of the bed and onto the ground, his eyes snapping open. ". . . It's about time!"

"Brock!" He yawned, "God, what time. . . is it? Go back to bed, would you? We can talk about your nighttime escapades with Fantasy Jenny in the morning, can't we?" He continued in reply, grabbing onto his blankets and reaching his feet, getting ready to hop back onto his mattress, before Brock held him back. "Awe, what is it. . . ? I'm tired. . ." He whined.

"Er, listen, I know it was against the rules or something, but. . . I couldn't help it. I - I kind of just got done having this _talk _with Misty. . ." The future Breeder said, and at this news, the Pokemon trainer's exhausted demeanor seemed to vanish almost immediately.

"No. No, no, no, no, no. See, that can't be right, Brock, because your having a talk with Misty would mean that you completely defied me and May when we told you specifically not to call her. . ." But Brock seemed to have this expression on his face that showed Ash that there was something more there, ". . . Oh, no. . . S - she knows, too, doesn't she. . . ?" The truth brought a thrill of horror through his spine as his older friend gulped and nodded shortly.

"I'm sorry. . . I - I really didn't think it would mean anything much if she knew. . . I thought it was funny. And then, well, she just stared at me like she had fainted upright on her feet, and I hung up on her because I had to come and warn you. . . I think we need to do something. . . It's dangerous to just sit here. . . We should probably try and make our escape as soon as possible. . . !"

"I don't know. . . I think she has a tracking system set for me or something. She's always been able to find me before, even when I hadn't called or written her for weeks at a time, she'd send a message straight to the Center closest to me. It's actually creepy. . ." And here Ash took a moment to shudder before ruffling a hand through his hair. He was perspiring from the stress of the situation, "Oh, no. . . Damnit, Brock, thanks to you, she's going to kill me. . . !"

". . . Kill _you_? I think we should be a little more worried about _May_!" At this point, Brock was having a little bit of trouble keeping his voice down. At his words, however, Ash stared, blinking, curious.

". . . Er, why?"

"O - oh, uh. . ." Brock broke off and looked away, ". . . Great, now she's gonna wanna kill me, too. . ." He muttered, ". . . Stupid, trusting me with such a serious secret. . ." He looked back at Ash, who was quirking an eyebrow, still awaiting an answer, "Nothing, Ash, nothing at all. Never mind for now. . . Maybe we should go back to sleep. We'll go back to sleep and wake up early and then head out. . ." At this point he was ranting, "I mean, even if she comes after us, we can still get a head-start, but it's only worth it if we can make it out fresh."

"Oh, yea, I'm going to be able to sleep _now_." Ash rolled his eyes and glared, "What with the nightmares of mallets and paper fans and poisoned food. . ." He shuddered again but, nevertheless, crawled back into his bottom bunk, throwing his blanket overtop himself and slamming his eyes shut, willing sleep to come sooner rather than later.

Brock did so as well, collapsing into the bunk opposite his friend, and pulling the quilt upon him. Finding himself so fond of music lately, he found something quite adequate coming to mind. . .

A funeral march.

OoO

The next morning, Ash would wake up last, somehow, always the deepest sleeper, and to the sound of someone pounding a ferocious fist on his bedroom door. With every thump, his brow furrowed ever deeper until his scowl seemed to be permanently etched onto his face. As he slowly made his way out of his bed, stretching, Pikachu hopping onto his shoulder in a much more energetic state, he barely had time to take notice that no one else was in the room with him. Who would take the time to knock on their door? Who would take the time to knock in such an angry fashion. . . ?

"Alright, alright. . . I'm coming. . ." He yawned, "Just give me a minute," and he turned the knob, giving himself just enough of a chance to sense the danger on the other side. "Wah!" And he leapt out of the way as a mallet came crashing down out of nowhere, almost impacting with his head.

He and Pikachu went separate ways, his Pokemon partner heading for the top bunk that Max had been sleeping on the night before, while Ash made a run for the one that Brock and May had been sharing. This seemed to be the wrong choice to make, obviously, as Misty sensed May's presence there and followed after her best friend in order to try and end his life.

Wait a minute, there. . .

"Misty?" He asked, completely confused, pointing at her, "How'd you get here? When? . . . _Whoa_!" And he jumped off of the top bunk to avoid another murderous impact with her mallet, which looked slightly more dangerous than he remembered it to be, although he couldn't quite put his finger on it, somehow. . . But he had other things to tend to, either way. "Mwah, Myst, stop it! What are trying to do, kill me?"

She stopped long enough to give him a sweet, almost innocent grin, and then growled and held her weapon high over her head again and took off after him, attempting to claim his head as her personal trophy.

"Good guess, you two-timer!"

"Two-timer? What?" He asked, now oblivious about absolutely everything in the world. It was too early for this. . . And now totally sure that everything in the universe was topsy-turvy and in need of a good spiritual cleansing, he continued, "Pikachu, _Thundershock_!"

The pintsized electric rodent gave a small nod and leapt into the air, shocking the both of them, unable to contain himself. When he was done, he laughed, giving a peace sign, and Ash and Misty glared, Ash at Pikachu, and Misty at Ash.

"Pikachu! Next time, not so hard!" He reprimanded, and then he turned to Misty and held out a hand to help her to her feet, "Are you feeling a little. . . er, better. . . now?"

She just kept glaring at him for a few seconds, and then turned her nose up at him and threw down her mallet, picking herself up off of the ground and dusting herself off. Turning away from her, he placed a hand behind his head and sweatdropped, sighing, looking around the room.

Everything was in tatters, basically. Both beds were ruined. Misty's mallet had completely destroyed the one, while Pikachu's _Thundershock _had obliterated the other, and soiled the carpet. . . There was no doubt that they were going to have to pay for it.

"So, I hope you and May are very. . . _happy_. . . together." He heard Misty say in a stiff tone from behind him. He jumped and turned to face her, blinking and shaking his head ever so slightly. He almost laughed at the expression on her face. She looked almost hurt, like she thought he was in love with another girl; like she _cared_.

"Oh, c'mon, Myst, Brock told you. . . ! Just because the stupid fortuneteller says that me and May are supposed to be together, that doesn't mean we're going to be! And you should have heard it word for word; she even said so herself, that woman, that there's no such thing as soul mates, or destiny, just a certain amount of compatibility between every two people. . . And just because me and May have a lot of it doesn't make us any closer than me and you, or me and any other girl, or her and any other guy." Ash waved a hand in front of his face as he said this, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

When next he heard Misty speak, however, she seemed intent on proving him wrong.

"Ash. . . don't you. . . like May? Don't you. . . treasure her? If she were to be taken from you, wouldn't you be hurt?" Ash looked up at her as she asked this of him, and he saw that she wasn't looking him in the eyes, instead finding her shoes much more interesting. Her mallet was laying on the floor, forgotten, and she was clenching her fists together in a pained sort of way. "The fortuneteller's right; it's not just about destiny, or fate, or soul mate's. . . or compatibility, either. . . but you should realize how you feel now, while you have the chance to, before it's too late and some other guy comes to sweep her off her feet. . ."

"Myst, look. . . You say that, but, if it's not all about fate, destiny, blah-blah-blah, then how come everyone's pressing me to admit how I feel for _her_, right?" He asked, grinning, but she seemed to have an answer to that, too.

"Because I've seen how you two act around each other. . . How you're so friendly, so giving, you never really fight - not like we used to - and she's so sweet and caring, and never temperamental, and maybe that's how the girl that you'd be in the best relationship with is supposed to be like. . ."

Ash was growing exasperated, as was obvious by the sigh he elicited a few seconds later, "Look, Misty, maybe you're right. . . Maybe I should go fall in love with a girl like May. After all, girl's like that are easy to get along with, sweet, adorable, kind-hearted, pretty. . ." This, however, seemed to be the wrong thing to say. Misty's logical demeanor vanished and she knelt beside her mallet again, picking it up and standing straight, her brow furrowed in rage.

". . . W - where did you say May was again?" She asked in the calmest tone she could muster, and Ash blinked, coming to terms with the fact that Misty seemed to be drawing ever closer to the door leading out into the main part of the Pokemon Center.

Ash remembered Brock's words from the night before about May being in danger and, thinking fast, spoke the first excuse that came to mind.

"Uh, er, uhm. . . S - she. . . Oh. . . ! Did I forget to mention that. . . after the whole fortuneteller incident, we split up! Yea, s - she thought that it was just s - so weird, you know? I mean, after finding out about our compatibility, there was just so much tension going on and everything that we thought we were just better off without each other so we went our separate ways! See, Myst? We'll probably never even see each other again! You've got nothing at all to worry about!" Ash said, his hand swiping against the back of his head in embarrassment, wondering if this was going to work at all.

. . . Of _course, _not. . .

Of all the things she'd heard, only one thing stuck out in Misty's mind. . .

"You guys had _tension_?" She exclaimed, looking horrified.

"No, no, no! You see, to have tension, we'd probably have to have feelings for each other, wouldn't we, which we don't, so, yea. . . I - I mean, no!" Ash replied, panicking, backing against the wall as she advanced on him again with her mallet held high above her head.

". . . _Where _did you say May was, Ash. . . ?" She asked in a growl of silky vehemence and, without a word, he pointed out the door again, and she took off at a speed barely known by any other human being. He allowed his heart to regain a steady pace before following after her, stopping short to allow Pikachu a chance to jump onto his shoulder.

"I gotta warn May; who knows if Brock's been given the chance yet. . . ? It's not exactly everyday conversation that you mention to your friend that they might be having to avoid their own murder. . ." He huffed as he exited the room, locking it and making his way down the hallway towards the lobby.

Brock, however, had barely had a chance to think about May. He'd been the first to wake up, and he'd gone and eaten some breakfast, figuring that if the group was going to have to make a run for their lives, he'd rather not do it on an empty stomach, and then when he'd returned to the room a little while later, May had been gone. He'd gone to look for her, of course, but upon entering the lobby of the Center, he'd run into Nurse Joy, who was actually having some trouble trying to round up a few of the visiting trainers' Skitty for breakfast.

Seizing his chance, he'd offered to help her by teaching her one of the recipe's that May's Skitty had always preferred, and she'd readily accepted. May had easily been driven clear from his mind, as had all of their lives. . . Any Pokemon trainers that were to walk by him could literally see the brain stems _leaking _out of his ears. . .

Max was eating a late breakfast as well, and hadn't seen his sister, either. He'd noticed her drop off her Pokemon with Nurse Joy earlier that morning so that they could get a little check-up, and then she'd wandered off to have some free time. . .

". . . And it's the funniest thing, too. Did you know that Misty's here, Ash? She came around, asking me about May a little while ago!" Max said, allowing himself a small laugh, and Ash almost smacked himself., "Then again, she was carrying this huge, dangerous-looking mallet-y weapon around with her and it kind of scared me and. . . But, then, she's Misty, so what do we have to fear?"

"Do you know where she went, Max? Misty, I mean. . ." Ash said, figuring it might have just been easier trying to find her, rather than chasing the older Beech sibling's shadow at this point.

"Oh, well, she went back there. . ." Max pointed back in the direction of the trainers' dormitories. . . _Great_. That put Ash right back where he'd started, basically. . . Still, there were two floors in the Center, and he'd already covered most of the first one, other than the bathroom, but if Max said she hadn't headed in that direction, then Ash had to trust that.

"Okay, Pikachu, let's go!" And he took off in the direction of the staircase leading to basement floor, which had a large storage room, and a Pokemon training reserve, and a pool on one side. The other side held more trainer dorm's and public shower stalls for those who needed them.

There was a moment of indecision, here. . . On one hand, May didn't have her Pokemon, but that didn't mean that she wouldn't have minded a swim, and Ash was sure that, homicidal or not, Misty's personal attraction to anything aquatic would lead her to the pool first off. . . but, then, May probably wouldn't have had anything against taking a shower initially in the morning either, would she. . . ?

"Pikachu, you go check the showers! If you see May, just try and lure her away. . . Say something like, I don't know, you caught Max reading her diary or something!" Ash said, silently praying that no one would end up paying the price for that lie later on, ". . . And I'll take the pool. . . If either of us finds something threatening, the other will join them, agreed?" And he waited for his partner to consent before they parted ways again and went in different directions.

"Pika, pika!" Pikachu cried out by way of wishing his trainer luck on the journey, and Ash took off for the pool, throwing the double doors open and looking around.

Because it was still pretty early, there was no one else there. . . and then Ash turned, and caught Misty as she made her way haughtily towards the girl's locker room. He had two seconds to hope that, maybe, just maybe, May was in the showers after all, when said Petalburg native emerged from the locker room in her bathing suit, ready for a morning swim, and she looked just a bit shocked at the sight before her.

"Whoa, hey, Misty! When did you get here?" She asked with a bright smile which Misty didn't return. Rather, the redhead held her mallet more securely to her chest and growled menacingly. "Er. . ." And May seemed to sense the danger at this point, ". . . hey, d - does that mallet have, er, bent nails sticking out all over it. . . ?"

"Gee, yea, May, it does. . . I decided to upgrade it. I'm so glad that you noticed." She said with a sickly sweet smile while Ash snuck up on her from behind; no one noticed Drew exit from the boy's locker room on the opposite side of the pool area.

"Who wouldn't. . . ?" May muttered, taking a slight step back, "S - so. . . how'd you get here. . . ? And, uh, w - would you mind pointing that thing another, er, way. . . ? Because I'm. . ." She gulped here and couldn't seem to come up with an excuse good enough within the next few seconds to explain away the fact that she was scared for her life, and so she took another step backwards.

"I can't believe you'd betray me like that, May! How could you and Ash. . . and behind my back, no less! Well, I've got news for you! You won't be getting away with it. . . !" Misty shouted furiously, and held her mallet high above her head, stepping forward, gritting her teeth. . .

"May!" Drew shouted, and he started running towards her in the heat of the moment, as though attempting to save her.

"Drew?" May asked, turning her head for a second before remembering what was going on, then placing her hands over her head, "Ah, Misty!"

"No, Misty, don't do it! Don't kill May!" Ash said, and made a run for it, leaping at his redheaded best friend as though to tackle her to the floor. Misty, obviously not in the mood for the impact, decided to do the only logical thing and took a couple of steps back.

"Pikapi. . . !" Pikachu called out to his trainer from behind as he made it into the pool area, obviously finding nothing of use in the showers. The electric rodent lost its mind and let loose a shocking surge of power in the direction of the group of friends. . .

May repeated Misty's actions as well, taking a couple of steps back, now leaning against the girl's locker room door, and this caused Ash and Drew to collide headway in between the two girls, dead-center. This was just in time for the electric attack to hit them. They hit the ground hard, moaning, and May and Misty collapsed, too, at the sight, but unlike the two boys. . . it was in a coupled fit of laughter. It couldn't have been helped, after all, when Ash had gone to such lengths to prevent Misty from ending May's life (although, as they would find out later, Misty was just trying to _scare _May), and Drew had actually thought that May's life had been in danger to begin with and, thus, had needed saving. . .

Oh, the flattery.

After Misty had finally resolved to putting her mallet back in its space-time pocket (where that thing always seemed to hide itself until the time was right), and she and the others had sat down in the lobby of the Center again to have a more. . . civil. . . conversation about everything that was going on, Ash and May began, once again, to describe the, er, "horror" they felt at finding out about their being compatible life-mates for one another.

Given, they weren't that horrified by it; not meaning that they were any closer to being okay about it, or professing any lurve for each other, but explaining to Misty the after-effects of the fortuneteller's decree, explaining how they'd repeatedly ended up banging their heads against the table at the thought of having any type of feelings for each other, and explaining how they'd kicked Brock and Max over and over again for their jokes about _destiny _and _soul mates _and whatever. . . Well, for whatever reason, it seemed to quell a lot of Misty's fears, whatever they may have been about. . .

Drew just stood there by the wall and absorbed all of this information as well, not really saying a word, or nodding his ascent to any of it, but May took notice that he didn't blink or even really move throughout the whole discussion until it was over. He just leaned there in his cool stance with his hands in his pockets and his hair in his face and that expression of carelessness about him. . .

And there was something else, May noticed, and that was that every time she would turn to glance at Misty, after finishing one of her side-glances at Drew, just to see if the expression on his face had altered in some way, she would see the redhead staring at her with the most peculiar little air about her, like she was becoming aware of something very important. . .

"Okay, Misty, there's just one question I've got for you. . ." Brock said, and his brow seemed to be twitching from wondering about it for so long, ". . . You were in Cerulean City yesterday, and I would know, because I called you there; so how the heck did you get here so fast. . . ?"

"Oh, that's. . . a funny thing, actually." And she placed a hand to the back of her head and gave a very embarrassed laugh, "You see, after I finally woke up, and I realized that you'd hung up on me, Brock, I kind of. . . started ranting, and raving. . . a lot. . ." She sighed here, and the hand that had been behind her head dropped back to her thighs, ". . . And I ended up giving Psyduck a really big headache. . . And he was able to use _Teleport_."

The rest of the group was found two seconds later in the corner of the lobby, huddled together, looking mightily terrified, and even Drew was seen, his first move in over an hour being to take a couple of steps away from where Misty was sitting.

"Huh." Brock replied, ". . . Taking my advice, I guess you could say. . ." He sweatdropped in fear.

"Yea. . ." But Misty was glaring as she said this, ". . . So why don't you guys come back and join me here on this nice, comfy sofa. . . ?"

Still looking slightly chilled at the thought of what she was capable of, they did so, and she looked a little less scary. Rather, a somber demeanor set over her, and she placed her face into her palm as though attempting to think of the best of ways to rid herself of it. . . And then. . .

". . . I've got it!" She jumped to her feet and, on impulse, everyone else joined her as well, "Alright, guys, I've made my decision! I know what we're gonna do!" She clapped her hands together with a bright smile on her face and jumped up into the air with excitement.

"Er, and what's that?" Ash asked, although she looked so pleased already that he didn't mind, whatever it was.

"We're going to go back to that fortuneteller, and we're gonna find out for sure! I wanna know what she has to say about _me and Ash _being a couple. . . !" She placed a finger beside her cheek and continued, ". . . Just call it a theory."

"_What_?" Okay, so, yea, that wasn't so bad, but. . .

". . . And I want to find out about _May and Drew_, too!"

"_WHAT_?" The entire group asked in unison, even Drew, although he wasn't looking as. . . er. . . "eye-popping" as the rest of them.

It was time to let the games begin.

OoO

**Notes **- Wahahahah, this chapter was so much fun. . . Gods, crazy Misty is the best! What do you all think of her? Oh, yea, anyway, moving on; thanks to everyone for the reviews! I'm really moving up with this story, somehow! I've only posted the first chapter of this story and I've finished writing the third chapter up on my foster mom's computer. Eh; it's mostly because I'm getting kicked out of foster care soon and I'm not sure that, where I'm going, they'll have a computer, you know? So I wanna take it while I have it. . .

Oh, oh, I have news for the Pokeshippers and Contestshippers reading this fic! Wahahah! The next chapter is the one you've all been waiting for! Actually. . . no it's not. I thought it would be, but then, after I finished writing it, I realized that I was going to have to split it into two parts, so chapter five is the one that most of the shippers will be really looking forward to. . . Especially Pokeshippers. Especially Pokeshippers who are drama - Misty - fans. Lol. Yay. And I'm so unsure about whether or not I'm even going to have May and Drew get together. . . I really don't think I am. . . It's so hard to work with those two, when I don't know Drew's character that well, minus the hot arrogance. . .

Reviews will be immensely appreciated! Flames will be canned and sent as letter bombs to the Dursley's who thought they were funny, but really weren't all these years when they were torturing poor, poor Harry Potter! Er. . . yea. . .


	4. Fatal Attractions

**Author **- Chibi / Warlordess

**Disclaimer **- I don't own anything. . . But Misty's coming back as of April. . . first, wasn't it? So, either way, it doesn't matter, as the people who do run the show around here are keeping up with all of it a lot better than I ever could.

OoO

**Fiction Title **- "Fighting the Fates"

**Chapter Four **- "Fatal Attractions"

**Summary **- While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends stumble across a local fortuneteller who says. . . dun, dun, dun! Ash and May are destined to be together! And then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. . . Whatever could they have to say about this? Pokeshippy and Contestshippy fic. Tee hee. :)

**Ages **-

Ash / 15

May / 13

Misty / 16

Drew / 14

Brock / 18

Max / 10

OoO

Ash sighed as the group of now-six (not including Pikachu, who was sitting on his shoulder) made their way once again into the Sootopolis shopping center, May being held at bay by Brock by an invisible length of rope so that she wouldn't disappear into one of the many stores that were so often beckoning to her.

He just couldn't really believe that they were back again. That wasn't to say that he wasn't curious about Misty's motives. True, he had asked her at least four times over the course of an hour after she'd made her decision that they should come back here and find out about just how destined she and he, and May and Drew were to be together, romantically speaking. . . but every time she would simply shrug and turn her head, telling him that she was just, "Testing a theory."

This didn't help him at all, as he had had to borrow Brock's dictionary twice just to look up the word "theory" so that he could remember what it meant; "hypothesis", "speculation", "assumption". . . Yea. Actually attending more than five years of school might have been a wonderful choice, he had decided at that time, but then. . . _No_, he had to have a _dream_! He had to go on a journey that lasted years on end, his entire adolescence! There was no way for him to understand _any _of those words. . .

Oh, and then it got better; about thirty minutes before they'd decided to leave for the mall, May had seen him about ready to collapse from the sheer wonder of why Misty was going to such lengths to find out everything to do with what was going on, and the Hoenn girl had taken a hold of him and pulled him into nearest broom-cupboard, using one of the many "Do not disturb" signs that Brock and Max had made to hang on the door outside, intent on having a little, uninterrupted chat with him.

"Hey. . . ! What the - May? Why did you drag me in here. . . ?" Ash said, rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously as he looked around, although it wasn't like he could really see anything. Most of those things didn't come equipped with light switches, after all. "Uhm, do you really think this is the best time for us to be, I don't know, causing this kind of misunderstanding. . . ? Because, uh, if Brock finds us in here, I just know he's gonna make something really big of it, not to mention what Misty might just be capable of. . ."

"Yea, about Misty. . . Aren't you curious about why she's here?" May asked, and Ash could just barely see her leaning towards him in a determined sort of way.

"Uh. . ." He backed away from her, now slightly terrified of what _she _was capable of. "Well, yea, but she already explained how she got here, and she's told me a million times why, so I know that if I keep asking her, she'll only get annoyed. . . and an annoyed Misty is never a good thing and, well. . . I'm really not in the mood for her trying to kill me, or you, so. . ."

"Ash!" May shrieked, and Ash almost jumped, gulping, and he shushed her as he thought he heard someone from outside the door. "Don't tell me to be quiet; we need to clear up exactly why Misty would come all this way just to -- mpphh --!" And Ash took a more physical approach and near-jumped her, placing a hand over her mouth.

"Sh!" He said in the uncomfortable silence of them sitting like that, with her half in his arms, her back being forced against the rim of a bucket that smelt distinctly - awfully - like amonia, her attempting to fight him off so that she could then maybe-possibly kill him. . . And then he backed away from her as though there had been nothing going on to begin with, and not as though she had been on fire, not as though there was tension, as though he was nervous; but simply as though he had realized there was nothing to worry about. "So, what was all of that about. . . ?"

". . . Hold on. . . C - couldn't. . . breathe. . . Need to c - catch. . . up. . ." May gasped, waving a frantic hand around, again, that Ash could barely see. When she was finally able to work her lungs willingly again, she had also regained a sense of calm so that she didn't feel like kicking him, and she continued, "I know you've been wondering about why Misty's so intent on going to see the fortuneteller, Ash."

"Well, yea. . ." He shrugged.

"And, well, since you're you, I know that you'd easily believe that cock - and - bull story she's feeding about 'testing a theory'. . ." And here, May allowed a distinct roll of her eyes that, even in the almost - pitch, black darkness, Ash was able to catch.

"Wait, what? Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" He said, sounding insulted.

"Ugh, listen, Ash, the point is. . ." And here, May leaned in, gripping him by the shoulders before he was able to start yelling any louder, because, if he did, he would end up drawing even more attention to their little hiding spot, ". . . Think about it! So what if she had a theory? There's got to be more to it than that! Misty found out from Brock about that fortuneteller and her opinion about, you know. . . us, and she was so upset about it that she freaked out long and loud enough for her Psyduck to grasp enough of a headache to be able to use _Teleport_! She came all this way, and then, and I'm not exactly sure whether I'm more pleased with her or scared, she didn't mind tearing you to pieces because she considered you a two-timer! And she wanted to kill me for, seemingly, no reason at all, and then said that she was just trying to freak me out a little? What sense does it make?" May waited for Ash to blink, as though he was coming to comprehend the oddity of it all. "Ash, are you getting it. . . ?"

"I . . . I think I am, actually. . ." And, indeed, his eyes were widening as though something had just slid into place, "Oh, my God, May. . . Misty, she's. . . She's _insane_! I - I always wondered, and now I know for sure!"

"Oh, Ash! You're such an. . . idiot!" And May dropped his shoulders so that he hit the ground and she went back to her spot, "Think about it again, and without the too-too violent tendencies, please." She looked at him, and he looked back and then nodded again, sighed, closed his eyes, paced himself, as though trying to clear his mind, "First of all, you get to Sootopolis with your group of friends and head to the mall to stock up on supplies. . . There, after a little fun-time window shopping, you find yourself the target of the fortuneteller's evil scheme."

"Wait, wait. . ." Ash blinked and the picture that had printed itself so firmly into his mind faded instantly, "Window shopping? You call what you did window shopping? And what evil scheme? Who was the target? You're the one who led us all over there!" He scoffed, although he had to admit, May's version of events _was _pretty interesting, "Listen, if you're gonna tell the story, do it right!"

"Okay, okay. . ." She sighed here too, as though knowing it was going to dull the order of events, "Well, anyway, yea, after the fortuneteller chews out your oldest friend for being a romantic - psychic - paranormal stick-in-the-mud, she turns to you and says that you're destined to be with one of your other friends; the cutest, sweetest, kindest one of the bunch, whose got the greatest sense of style and comes from a nice family and has lots of class and --" Again, and this time with a humorous smile on his face, Ash interrupted her.

"-- And modest; don't forget modest. Uhm, May, a - are you sure of who you're talking about?" He asked, pointing at her. She glared and stuck her tongue out at him, but he could barely tell.

"Anyway, yea, of course, you're shocked, because, although she's clearly the most attractive, beautiful, wonderful girl in the world, you just don't feel that way for her, and, though you're a great guy, she doesn't feel that way for you, either. And thus, you have your first problem. Then, almost immediately, you have four more."

"Wait. . ." Ash blinked again, although, contrary to what he was planning on in the beginning, he wasn't going to comment on May's beginning statement. Rather, "four more problems. . . Don't you mean three? I mean, there's Brock, there's Max. . . And then there's Misty. Drew's not a problem, though, is he?" And then a small grin flitted across his face, "Or _is _he. . . ?"

May turned red again, sputtered, and then waved another hand in front of her face.

"Right, right; of course, you're absolutely right! There are only three problems! What was I thinking? Anyway. . ." And she regained that mysterious 'story-teller' air about her and continued once again, ". . . You tell the fortuneteller that there's no chance that you and your friend will ever be more than just that; friends, but she warns you that, unless you change your mind, something awful may happen, yet you ignore her and return to the Center, where you meet up with. . . uh. . ." Ash looked at May now, quirking an eyebrow, that small grin still on his face, "Oh, alright, fine! Problem number three! Yes, yes, I'm talking about Drew! Drew, Drew, Drew!" Her face was red from a mix of anger and embarrassment.

Ash remained where he sat, although the smile on his face widened to one that was almost out of malice, "Good for you, May; at least you've admitted that you've got a problem."

"It is not a problem! Now let me continue the story!" And she went on. "Problem number three, while both arrogant and rude, manages to maintain a large fan club. . . Stupid, idiotic, girly fan club. . . I'll show those little. . ." Ash cleared his throat and then slapped his hand against the floor and May snapped out of a weird jealous-like trance, laughed, and got back to what she'd been saying, "And, in the middle of a dispute with your destined friend, manages to. . . er. . ." And here, May broke off and turned red again, looked away, whistled, and then said in a strange, far away tone, "'Mars is bright tonight.'"

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me. . ." Ash muttered, rolling his eyes, aware that May was trying to distract him, "Just admit it, already, May! You've got a crush on Drew! Woohoo! You wanna know something! I've been in love with Misty for - what's it been now? - over a year! I think it's just natural to fall for someone you'd least expect. Remember? Misty's insane. And you just got done saying Drew's arrogant, which we all know. . . The next thing we'll be seeing is Officer Jenny and Nurse Joy having a grudge match over Brock in the pig pen." Ash shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Let's just face it; that's reality for us, and it's unbelievable, but that's all in the eyes of the beholder, and, well, I'm a guy who carries a foot-tall, yellow rat on his shoulder that shoots out electric attacks at will, and I can understand everything it says!"

". . . Fine." She sighed again, then continued, "In the middle of a dispute with your destined friend, problem number three, manages to gain her as another, er, crushee? Yay for her. . . right? And later on that night problem number two calls up what becomes problem number four and tells her of the events, unbeknownst to everyone else, and she freaks all of us out next day by showing up out of the blue and trying to kill your destined, cute, adorable, best-dressed friend. . ."

"You tell, uh, 'problem number four' that, and I don't think that you'll be helping your case, at least, not when you say it that way. . ." Ash commented.

"What, don't you agree with me?" She asked him.

"Well, I mean, it's not that I don't. . . It's just that. . . I mean, with Misty, it's, well, she's. . ."

"Awe, Ash, that's the sweetest thing!"

"It. . . is? Since when? 'Cause I'm gonna have to remember it, or write it down or something!" He said, and actually began rummaging through his pockets for a pencil and some paper to take it down with.

"No, not the actual comment, but just the fact that, since you're so in love with Misty, no other girl looks nearly as beautiful as her! Awe, that's just so cute! It doesn't even matter to you that she wears her hair in a side-ponytail that's out of style, or that, for three years, she walked around in suspenders, or that she wears orange tennis shoes!" May cooed as she reached her feet and moreover began hopping up and down on the spot to show just how romantic she thought that was of him.

"Oh, well. . ." Ash was sure she could feel the brilliant glow his face was giving off. "Uhm, it's not. . . I never said it was about the way she looked anyway. . . Oh, damnit! Now I can't stop it. . ." And he took his hat off his head and placed it over his face and seemed to be hoping that it wouldn't burst into flames.

"Well, anyway, let's finish this up real quick. . . before we have to go. . . Everyone's probably worried about where we disappeared to." May said, dusting herself off, "Misty came all this way after she left you to go watch her gym in Cerulean all that time ago. The only thing that made her come back other than that invite to the Togepi convention, which, of course, turned out to be a total bomb, was when you were told that you could have a chance at an everlasting romantic relationship with another girl. . . And she made it here in the blink of an eye when she found out about it, as though she flew, like her life depended on it or something. . . And you think all of that was just to test some theory." Ash just sat there and stared at May for a few seconds and then, huffing, May turned her back on him again, "C'mon, Ash, even you're smarter than that."

"May. . ." The raven-haired trainer said, also getting to his feet, "Look, maybe there is more to it than that. . . but if she's not willing to tell me, then I'm not gonna push it. . . It's Misty, remember? She tried to kill us just this morning? She could be psycho."

"Hey, you're the one whose in love with her." May shrugged as Ash went to open the door, and then the knob was turned and all was silent because. . . well. . . a very irate Misty stood before them, and she looked like she'd been waiting for their reentry into the main part of the Center for quite awhile, at least, from what they could tell of the fiery aura that surrounded her.

It was at this point that Ash and May took in their situation. May's hair was tousled pretty badly from when Ash had pressed her backwards, holding her mouth shut when he thought he'd heard someone outside the door (know he knew he'd been right), and his jacket-vest was hanging over one of his shoulders from when May had been gripping him, trying to force him to realize just what Misty was doing there. And then there was just the setting. A broom-cupboard, after the two had been told they were basically destined to be together, and there was a sign hanging from the door that said 'Do not disturb'. . .

God, they were _so _doomed.

And Misty seemed to know that as well, as her eyes were twitching in a horrible, evil way as though she were trying to control her impulses, and the fire that was radiating around her was so vibrant it was a wonder that they weren't burned alive, and she had obviously misinterpreted what had just gone on between them as they had known she would misinterpret it.

Oh, and it got worse.

Brock just happened to amble by at that point, whistling carelessly as he made his way to the front of the Center, figuring everyone would be ready to leave for the mall, and then he saw that two of the group were basically being cornered.

"Oh, hey, guys; what's going on?" Only, as he was the oldest, he too took a moment to let his eyes rove over the incriminating evidence. "Are you all ready to. . ." And then his brow rose in shock, and, strangely enough, a weird, perverted grin fitted itself to his face, "Like rabbits, you two! Couldn't you even wait until Misty was gone to get down to your business? I swear, kids today. . . And Ash, what would your mother think? Oh, wait. . ." For Misty had turned on him in an instant and her fury had reached its peak, lashing out at the closest source of annoyance she could find. "No, wait, Misty, you don't understand. . . I - I was just, you know, kidding around. . ."

Her mallet, the upgraded one with the bent nails, was out in a flash, and Brock was on the run; the chase was on.

Of course, Brock ended up surviving, which, if you looked at it the right way, could have been surmised as a good thing. How else were Ash and everyone going to gorge out on the best food when camping out on the road, when they should be eating cold-canned beans every night? Who else would've brought humor to their every Pokemon Center visit, if not for their Breeder friend's antics with Nurse Joy? Not to mention, Max needed a hobby that wasn't supplied by his PokeNav, and pulling Brock away from the girls whenever he got out of hand was about as good as it got since he still hadn't gotten a chance to return to Littleroot Town and attain his Trainer's License.

Ash and May had explained to Misty about the, er, incident in the broom-cupboard, about how there had been only an extensive amount of talking done, and nothing more, although neither was sure that she believed them, as she seemed to be refraining from talking to them. This, Ash had decided, was an even worse revenge tactic than her yelling continuously in fury. . .

And then, the group of six had picked up their Pokemon from the front desk, not wanting to leave anymore time for mistakes and inconveniences among one another (May could only sigh in gratefulness that Drew didn't find out about the broom-cupboard), and had headed to the Sootopolis mall to find out their alternating futures with one another. . . of course, as it was Misty's idea, it was also on her tab.

And that was where they were now, just inside the main entrance to the shopping center, standing almost stiffly to the side to avoid getting in the other purchasers' ways. Ash couldn't help glancing at Misty at least once, wondering why she wasn't ushering the rest of them straight for the fortuneteller. Was she waiting for him, or one of the others, to guide her to the woman? Was that all it was. . . ?

His brow furrowed. No; that couldn't have been it. . . because he could see it now. Her knees actually looked as though they were trembling, and she was clenching her fists, though it was in a different way than before, when she was angry; it was more like she was trying to reassure herself. . . But what about?

"Er, Myst? It's this way." He said, and pointed towards the long, wide hall of stores. He could already see a large crowd gathered around the same area they'd been at yesterday, and the memory of what he'd heard, what he'd learned, resurfaced. . . and then he too began to wonder, began to almost fear, just what he'd be hearing today as well.

"Well, then, let's go." Misty said, and she smiled at Ash as though trying to convince him that she didn't have a care in the world and threw a secure fist into the air and began walking towards the crowd of people, "I wanna know just how good this lady is, just what she's capable of. . . !" But she gulped; she was scared.

She approached the table, scattering the congregation, which began to mutter almost excitedly, as some of the people recognized Ash and May from the day before. This didn't seem to help Misty's attitude, nor did the fortuneteller's response to the large group filing out before her little place of residence.

"You've returned sooner than I'd expected. . ." She actually smiled at them all in a cloudy sort of way, as though trying to interpret their motives, however she needn't wait long to find out just why they were there. . .

"I asked for their. . . er. . . support! And I want your opinion, you could say!" Misty said, and she slammed her hand down onto the table. At first, the others thought that it was out of anger, as though she was just trying to make a point, but then, when she removed her fist again, Ash saw that there was a fifty dollar bill there, "You charge ten dollars per person, right? Well, I'll pay fifty if you can tell my specifically, just how a romantic relationship would go between me and him," and at this point, she nodded towards Ash, who decided that the ceiling was suddenly a very interesting thing, "and those two," then she pointed out Drew and May, who blushed in unison and turned away from each other.

"Hn," the woman was frowning now, especially at Misty, as though this was something she hadn't counted on. Nevertheless, she accepted the money, nodding in an almost shy, exceptionally calm, sort of way, and beckoned them all closer. "You realize that I must state your season before I describe exactly why your loves are hopeless, otherwise you might not understand. . . Is that alright with you?"

Misty didn't move for a moment. She seemed to be thinking over the woman's statement, as though sure she had heard incorrectly. 'Hopeless?' That wasn't the word she had been going for. . . And the woman had used the word in plural. . . Did that mean that May and Drew were in love with each other, or that May did love Drew, even if it wasn't requited? But that wasn't the point of the fortuneteller's question. She turned to face Ash and May, not sure what stating her season had to do with anything, and they nodded their ascent, although they were looking just as unhappy as her at the pre-news.

"Fine. . ." But she was still afraid. ". . . But," she glanced at Drew and they exchanged a silent word, "could you go first?"

It was May's turn to be hesitant, considering Drew's comment from the afternoon before.

_"Only those who aren't confident about themselves would resort to such means. . . And that means that I would never do that on my own."_ Those were his words, so how would Misty's fear of the fortuneteller's biting tone, her fear of 'destiny', make it any different for him? And not only that, but May was also just a bit frightened for the 'them' that was included in this. They were losing something in this, too; maybe it wasn't as much as Ash and Misty, since she knew that, even though she might have gotten there one day, she wasn't in love with Drew just yet, but. . . She clutched anxiously at the hem of her shirt as she waited for Drew's reply. Surely, he'd deny the offer; surely, he'd be just as worried about what was coming, he'd want to prolong the wonderful naivety they were capable of before learning how they weren't meant to be, how they weren't even compatible in the least. . .

. . . But. . .

". . . Sure, yea." He shrugged, his hands in his pockets, as though he couldn't care less, and her eyes widened as he stepped forward even more, leaving her behind.

May tried to look at that another way. Drew was being _courageous_. Yes; that was it. So, even if his other main qualities were different from hers, his sharing that one thing with Ash put them on the same plateau, meaning that he and she. . . they had to be somewhat in tune with each other. . . Right? She tried to focus on Misty regaining her spot alongside Ash, Brock, and the others, but as soon as the fortuneteller had begun speaking about Drew, her head snapped back in the direction of his stance, and she couldn't look away. . . She had to know.

"You are Winter." The woman said with only the simplest glance at Drew, who didn't even nod. Maybe he already knew from when he'd been there the day before, when he'd been learning about his lack of a future with that other girl, and the woman was saying all of this for everyone else's benefit, although, if that was the case, May had yet to learn why. "You are a facet of white, as is your name, a safety-net or security-blanket. . ." May was shocked by this news, and she could tell that her finding this out, not to mention everyone else finally becoming aware of it, was something of a discomfort to Drew, "Because of this, you are a very difficult person to reach, and you have few that you can call your friends. Nevertheless, you are also vigilant to those who trust in you, and you're wise." The woman took a deep breath, turned her gaze to Misty, and nodded as though pointing out that she was going to move on to the appointed topic, "However. . . you can't force those two very separate molds together. . ." And her sights reached May.

"No. . . No! Tell me why!" The Hoenn girl said, and she stomped forward, too, taking up the spot beside Drew, who looked suddenly shell-shocked and moved a little farther to the right to give her some space to vent. "Be more specific when you're going to say that something's so pointless to pursue!"

"My dear," the woman did indeed look sympathetic, much more than she had for Misty, and maybe that was because she had taken a liking to May's character the day before, when she'd shown up with Ash, someone who was such a perfect match for her, "you have to understand. Just think about what I told you. What are you exactly? What did I say you were yesterday?"

"Er. . ." May blinked in confusion, stepped back, unsure, and then her eyes widened; Brock's and Max's did as well, but theirs were the only ones to do so. Ash wasn't smart enough to understand, and Misty and Drew's retelling's of the story about what had happened at the mall the day before hadn't extended so far as for them to get it right away, "B - but. . . you can't mean that it's that literal. . . No. . ." She looked quite close to tears.

"I'm apologetic that the repercussions aren't to your fortunality, but that's sometimes the case, isn't it, in this business?" The fortuneteller gave a wry grin, and then, as Ash, Drew, and Misty were still looking quite perplexed, she sighed and began to explain, "The girl, May, is a Spring, and the boy, Drew, is a Winter. . . All Springs and Winters clash for the simple explanation that. . . Spring is the season of life, while Winter is the season of death." The woman turned her gaze back to May and Drew as everyone's eyes widened in near-horror at the news, ". . . In other words, everything you will bring to fruit, everything you will bring to life. . . He will most likely undoubtedly be the death of it, as Winter is to Spring."

No one seemed to know how quite to react to this. Max and Brock were looking every part the nonchalant spectators, albeit somehow disappointed for May's sake, and Ash had a distinct frown on his face at the depressing note of it all. . . Misty was biting her lip, and her hands were behind her back, where she was twisting at the hem of her shirt again in great nervousness. . . If this was how bad May and Drew's future was going to be, after all, when they weren't even in love yet, then just what could she expect. . . ? And then May did something that none of them knew how to react to.

"Ah. . . hah, hah, hah, hah!" She laughed almost embarrassedly, her face flushed ever so slightly as one of her arms shot behind her head and she sweatdropped. She stood back a bit, almost as though just realizing that she'd been glaring and looking so remarkably fierce. She looked like she'd returned to her normal self, "O - oh, well! I guess t - that you can't have, you know, everything that y - you want!"

And Drew shrugged again as well, knowing that, even if May was faking this reaction, it wasn't the best time to reprimand her for it either way. . . And Misty took their places, stepping up to the table in a slightly shaky way. But her jaw was set.

". . . Well, then, I guess it's my turn."

OoO

**Notes **- Okee, I have to say. . . I'd thought of about three different ways to end this chapter, and I had to go with this one. I was going to go all the way through to Ash and Misty agreeing to go on a date, and May and Drew doing the same, but, well, look how long this thing is already, right? And then I was going to shorten it to the part where everyone learns how incompatible Ash and Misty are, and Misty runs off, but, still, that was going to be a while too long, so then I decided to cut it to this length. . . Sorry, but you'll all have to live with it.

That brings me to another topic. . . Eh; I'd thought that this fic would be around five or six chapters, but, well, now I don't think that's going to happen. At all. It'll probably be seven, or eight. I'm hoping it won't be more than seven, though. Oh, well; I'll have more information, hopefully, by the time I'm finished writing the next chapter or two. You'll all have to stay tuned until then, alright?

Uhm, also, lesse. . . Thanks for the reviews! I lurve getting reviews! Gods, they are my favorite part of the. . . er. . . week, I suppose, since I only get to the library to read them once a week. . . Heh. But they are my favorite time. Yep. That's why, when I can afford to, I try to update more than one fic at a time; so that I can have about two pages of nothing but review - alerts sent to my email box when next I go to the library to check up on my emails. It's something wonderful, too, that they're always such great, praising comments! You guys are so kind to me, if a little easily impressed. . . My fics aren't _that _good. . .

Please review this time around as well, so that I'll feel more inclined to update!


	5. Running, Scared

**Author **- Chibi / Warlordess

**Disclaimer **- I don't own anything. . . But Misty's coming back as of April. . . first, wasn't it? So, either way, it doesn't matter, as the people who do run the show around here are keeping up with all of it a lot better than I ever could.

OoO

**Fiction Title **- "Fighting the Fates"

**Chapter Five **- "Running, Scared"

**Summary **- While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends stumble across a local fortuneteller who says. . . dun, dun, dun! Ash and May are destined to be together! And then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. . . Whatever could they have to say about this? Pokeshippy and Contestshippy fic. Tee hee. :)

**Ages **-

Ash / 15

May / 13

Misty / 16

Drew / 14

Brock / 18

Max / 10

OoO

_"Well, then, I guess it's my turn."_

Even as Misty took up her spot in front of the local Sootopolis seer, she seemed to be quaking in her shoes, but her resolve was strong, and if her affection - her love - for Ash was going to be seen as 'hopeless', then she needed to know why. She'd felt that way for him for years, after all. And so she clenched her fists and held her head high, gritting her teeth in a committed way and listening to what the woman had to say.

"You are Summer." Somehow, Misty wasn't surprised. . . She had always loved the sea, and Summer was the best time to have anything to do with the ocean. "You are physically afflicted by this, as is seen by your beach-sand complexion and your fiery hair. . . But you are also seen as a metaphor. . . A poison, sickly, intense, which sometimes ruins those relationships that haven't had enough time to grow. This has caused an independence which makes you quite the reliable being to a certain few, and quite the logical mind." The woman and the redhead gazed at each other in a swift, piercing sort of way.

"And. . . what are the qualities of. . . Ash's season?" Misty said, jerking her head in her best friend's direction. Ash knew that the answer was going to be nothing good before the fortuneteller even began to reply, and he sighed, looking disappointed somehow, scuffing his tennis shoe against the linoleum flooring.

"They are. . . courage. . . and passion. And your qualities consist of independence, reliability, and - sometimes - logic." The woman shrugged here, as though careless, "As you can plainly see, there can be no chance of a match. . . _However_. . ." And she turned her gaze between Misty and Drew, a strangely mischievous grin flitting upon her face as though something had crossed her mind, "You two, Summer and Winter, the cooling or warming of the ultimatum of the seasons. . . ! Your qualities, my girl, and his - they are nearly perfectly in tune. . . Do you think that maybe, there could possibly be a chance that. . ."

As though in reply to this, Misty and Drew automatically took three steps away from each other, and Ash and May, both with near-hostile expressions on their faces, stood in between the two.

"Uh, no! We've barely just met each other!" Misty started in a shriek.

"And, well, she's not really my type." Drew said, and though Misty could have made something of it, she decided against it, considering that could've been misinterpreted as jealousy, rather than a simple insult. Instead, she turned back to the seer.

"Why not?" And she looked terrified beneath the surface again because she was finally going to become aware of the reason. She stepped back and placed a hand to her chest as though her heart was physically pained at the thought of her and Ash not being able to work out. And then Ash was at her side, and he clapped a hand to her shoulder in a secure sort of way. She braved a glance at him, but saw that he was still staring fiercely at the fortuneteller as though willing her to come up with a very good explanation for this theory.

"It's very simple, really. If you think about it logically, the winds of Autumn and the seas of Summer would most often clash, be at war. The sea churns, spawns high tides that, with the crippling power of the wind, form a hurricane. That power devastates and causes destruction, demolishing cities, homes, lives. . . Do you see? If I'm not much mistaken, your friendship is already. . . not the most pleasant thing on the planet?" They seemed to quell under the woman's stare at the truth of the matter and she closed her eyes, sighed, and nodded, ". . . I see. I suggest you stop for a moment, you two. Think about it. You have a friendship that's shaky enough as it is and I'm giving you my fairest of warnings overtop all of your past experiences. . . Maybe you want to try this new thing on for size, despite everything I'm saying, maybe you'll defy all chances you've been given to go another way, but. . ."

Ash turned to Misty now and saw that she was looking very unsure about everything.

"_So_? So what? Who cares if we plan on trying on a relationship with each other? We don't need your blessing for that, lady!" He shouted, furious, swiping at her with his free hand.

"Ash. . ." Misty murmured, but not in a convinced way. She gave the others half a wary glance before turning back to the seer.

"Nor will you be receiving it, but I give you one final word of advice." The woman drew breath again before she allowed herself to go on, "I've already told you how wrong I think you'd be for attempting anything more with each other in the future. . ." Ash felt Misty stiffen as she shrugged his hand off of her shoulder, ". . . but if you insist on ruining yourselves. . ." And at this point, Misty took a few steps back and away from him, as though scared he'd lash out at her, ". . . please consider the fact that yours are not the only lives affected." And Misty didn't wait for anyone else's reaction's to this statement, instead, turning and taking off at a run, her face bowed so low that her eyes were completely shrouded by her bright red hair.

"N - no; come back, Myst. . . !" Ash said, throwing out an arm to try and catch her, but too late, and he turned to the others, ". . . Do you guys think this is one of those times where she needs to be alone, or should I get going now. . . ?"

Brock, May, Drew, and Max exchanged a series of looks before they all leant forward and gave Ash a simultaneous push in the direction that the Cerulean native had taken off in before.

"Oh, just get going!" They said.

"Pikachu, I need you to stay here. . . !" Ash said, and his friend obeyed, leaping off of his shoulder and finding itself cozy between Brock and Max, and when the raven-haired trainer had gone, as well. . .

"Pika, Pikapi!" It called, wishing his trainer good luck.

"Normally, I'd say that it'd be better to give Misty some time to calm down first, but those were back in the days when she was actually traveling with us, and she didn't have a hometown to just run off to if she got upset enough. . . Still," here, Brock took a moment to look at the others, ". . . do you think everything will be okay?"

"Oh, sure. . ." Max said, and he sounded so confident that everyone sweatdropped as they looked to him for an elaboration, "Well, this is Ash we're talking about, here, and Misty. As Misty's a girl, the waterworks will have started up by now so she'll have sat down to let them cool off; and Ash being. . . Ash. . . he'll probably have gotten himself lost, which will give her an extra few minutes to collect herself." He cleared his throat and looked up at everyone. "What? That's just the logical conclusion!"

"Yea; okay." May said with a roll of the eyes at her brother's geekyness. "Let's meet up with them at the Pokemon Center, then. There's no point in sticking around here; unless. . ." And here she glanced hopefully around at all of the stores and then up at Brock.

". . . See, May? I _knew _something had been wrong with you lately! And now I'm positive all the fortunetelling, the lurve, the ness-ness (if you know what I mean) has unhinged a certain detail of your brain that clearly states 'Brock is not my Sugar Daddy!'"

"Oh, but please? Please, please, please, please, _please_?" She asked, puckering her lip again like the last time they'd been there.

"_No_."

"Oh, but. . . Nurse Joy was telling me that she really likes guys who take care of their little sisters. . . !"

"You're _not _my little sister!"

"Minor details. . . Besides, I'm the closest thing you've got in the immediate vicinity, and I'm sure that Joy would appreciate it either way." She inched closer to him and nudged him in the ribs, catching sight of the dreamy expression on his face, ". . . Right. . . ?"

Brock looked as though he was trying very hard to seem unaffected by the conversation, ". . . Fine. . ." He failed miserably, replying in his stiffest 'I'm finally maybe - sorta gonna get a girlfriend, or at least not get taken away in handcuffs' voice, and she proceeded to lead him away by looping one of her arms with his and pulling him along.

"We'll meet up with you later, and take Pikachu with you!" She said pointedly to Max, seemingly forgetting that Drew was even there, and then it was like someone had shot a gun off into the air, and it was a race to see just how fast and how far she could get the group into debt.

Drew took one uncertain step forward, heading in the direction May had gone, but Max, seeing this, put on his geeky, protective, little brother air, and called out to the older Coordinator.

"Hey, Drew? Have you ever seen a Pokemon trainer documentary?" He asked, the frames of his glasses flashing as he fitted them more firmly up the bridge of his nose.

"Uh. . . no." Luckily, it seemed to get the boy's attention. . . Or maybe he was just a bit scared of why Max was advancing on him.

"Oh, they're very interesting! They're directed by Professor Oak, and there's one for almost every Pokemon, and they cover a lot of topics for trainers when they're trying to tame the Pokemon; popular food recipe's, training techniques, breeding favors, etc." Max halted mid-rant and placed a delicate finger to his chin in thought, "Let's see. . . I should have quite a few by now; Munchlax, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Gyarados, Mudkip, Vulpix, Psyduck. . ." He got a look of thorough excitement in his eyes, "I know! Let's go watch one!"

"Uh. . ." Drew was still glancing awkwardly in the direction May had taken off in. He wanted to go after her; he wanted to talk about. . .

_". . . Everything you will bring to fruit, everything you will bring to life. . . He will most likely undoubtedly be the death of it, as Winter is to Spring."_

He couldn't help the inevitable and slight flinch that coursed through him at that. No wonder she didn't want to talk. . .

OoO

May's gaze was just slightly hazy as she stared through the window at one of the jewlery shops on the first floor of the mall. She blinked and tried to refocus, hoping that the diamonds, the sterling silver, would look more appealing through the glass cases. . . but all she could really see was her reflection.

She sighed and turned away, backing up and heading back into the main hall, glancing around at the many different stylish settings she had yet to detail into. None of it seemed very interesting to her at this point. . . She kept hoping that something would catch her eye, something that would make her feel like her old self, something that would get her mind off of everything that had gone on just a little around a half an hour ago. . . but that didn't seem to be the case.

Unfortunately, some part of her seemed to be set on blaming Misty, and while she felt a bit guilty for that, she couldn't seem to help it. If not for Misty's incessent need to find out about her compatibility with Ash, then she wouldn't have dragged everyone back to the Sootopolis shopping center to see the fortuneteller. . . She wouldn't have asked so much of the woman, paid so much just for the specificity of their possible future's with Ash and Drew. . . And May - she wouldn't have had to be so thoroughly disappointed - she could have lived with the carelessness of it all.

But now, well, that seemed to be over - and there was nothing that could be done to change it, if there was no chance. . . if destiny, or fate, or whatever, was totally against the possibility. But still, she had to wonder, if that was the way it was, how could she feel so attracted to him in the first place? So impossibly in, er, 'like' with him, if it would all be for nothing in the end? And Misty, too?

And that was what brought May back to Earth. . . and into a complete guilt-trip. Misty was only trying to find out why something so exhilarating as her love for Ash would never work out, and it just so happened that she was pushed into that, forced into finding out why, because Ash had been told that he and another girl would be near-perfect for one another. . . Let alone, he and a girl that he spent everyday with. May understood that. . . Now that she thought about it, if she'd found out that Drew and one of his fan girls were in a relationship, a long-lasting one at that, she might've. . . well. . . she wouldn't have been happy about it. Nevertheless, Misty's solution - it wasn't the best way to solve the problem, but then, in a way, maybe. . . maybe May should have thanked Misty. . .

After all, if not for the Cerulean native, the female Coordinator might have gone on for months fancying her rival, and that crush might have even grown into something more; she might have become lost in it. . . She might not have been able to help herself. At least this way, though. . . This way, she knew ahead of time that it was hopeless.

"May. . ." Brock cleared his throat. May's head shot up and she realized that she'd been standing in the middle of the mall hall for almost five minutes, simply thinking. "I know what this is about. Don't think that you've gotten past me with this sudden shopping spree; even you're not this materialistic."

She turned to look him up and down and saw that that was impossible, because, in her haste to get Drew off her mind, she'd run through half of the stores in the Sootopolis mall, slinging a credit card like it was her lifeline, and buying almost a thousand dollars in anonymous items. She felt bad now, as she wasn't sure that her older friend was even able to breathe under all of that. . . but the thing was, she was still unable to stop. . . Shopping was her stress reliever, and after what had happened, she certainly had a lot of stress that needed relieving.

". . . How would you know just how materialistic I am? I - I could be completely obsessed w - with clothes, a - and cars, and jewels, and things like that. . ." She attempted to argue half-heartedly, not in the mood for the lecture she just knew was coming, and indeed, she heard Brock utter a large sigh as they both made their way towards a bench beside a cellphone pocket office.

"You're a good person, May; don't try to fight me on that." Brock said, thankful to be able to set down the large pile of boxes and bags, and he faced her, although she wasn't willing to look at him just yet, ". . . Look, you didn't like what the seer had to say; I get it. Actually, I didn't really like it much, either, but that's for a different reason. . . Well, for the most part. You wanna know something?" He allowed a small grin to flit across his face, and she finally gave him half a glance, if only for a moment, before looking down at the soles of her shoes again.

"What is it. . . ?"

"I've always been rooting for Ash and Misty, and you and Drew, to get together, too."

May scoffed, although, for some reason, she did believe him. There was something about the way he and her brother had been teasing her and Ash that made it seem as though they found it truly disbelieving and more hilarious, than as though they found something of truth in it. . .

"Well, even if that's the case, there's no fighting fate, so. . . you know. . . I guess that's it, somehow. I - I just don't want to have to even think about - about how she put it, that woman. Drew's basically going to be an undoing for me; he'll make me unhappy, no matter what I try to do for myself, or him. . . and no matter how much I like him, I can't handle that type of thing."

"Eh, May. . ." Brock sighed again, leaning sloppily back in his seat, almost like Ash would, ". . . 'Life is like a box of chocolates.' 'If you're not willing to risk it all, you don't want it bad enough.' Uhm, no, wait. . ." He said, because May was quirking an eyebrow at him and looking his way as though he was quite insane, "I think I have another one. . . Ah, yes. . . 'A push into First Love, a shove into Everlasting Happiness.'"

"U - uh, Brock, what are you quoting for? What do those have to do with anything. . . ?" May asked, uncomfortably aware that the last one had her turning quite red. Brock acted as though she hadn't said a word.

"A wise, young man, who isn't really that wise, but that's beside the point, once said that love doesn't matter or have anything at all to do with destiny. . . If you don't feel anything for someone, then it's not fair to say that you want to be with them." Brock commented, and May actually seemed to be looking relieved, as though she knew this person, whoever they were, had obviously experienced something along the same lines of her situation.

"A - and they told _you _that. . . ? Like, you know, personally?" After Brock nodded in reply, she couldn't help the curiosity that overwhelmed her, and so she continued, ". . . Who was it?"

"Well, actually, it was Ash. He said it yesterday; to me and Drew, before you came tumbling back onto the scene."

The comment sold May unlike anything she'd ever known before. If Ash had said that. . . it was a type of proof, somehow, that there was no part of him that wanted to have anything to do with this destiny that 'they' had. He wanted to fight it in its entirety, because he didn't feel anything for her, and that was just fine; the feeling, of course, was mutual.

It gave her strength, somehow. . . If he was so confident that he could overcome this whole thing, that he could win over Misty and they could be together. . . then what was to stop her, May, from doing the same thing?

The answer came to her almost immediately. Absolutely nothing.

Leaping to her feet, she turned on her heel and began running towards the Pokemon Center.

"Thanks, Brock!" She called, already knowing just what she had to do.

". . . H - hey, wait!" But it was too late. Brock sighed, almost knocking himself upside the head. Of course, he could be helpful to people, but did they ever remember just what they left him with. . . ? No. Of course, not. He glanced beside him at all of the boxes and bags that the young Hoenn girl had left behind. "I think that I'll just return these. . ."

He could already see the conversation he'd have with May later on, once everything had worked out with everyone. . .

_"Hey, Brock, where did you put all of my stuff? You know, that we bought together after we saw the fortuneteller that second time?" She asked._

_"Stuff? What stuff? I don't remember any stuff. . ." He replied in a completely innocent tone, turning away and preparing to run._

Back in the present, Brock blinked and continued to stare at the fifteen or so packages sitting beside him, wondering if he was truly brave enough to survive May's wrath. . .

". . . Nah." He sighed, and attempted to pick everything up into his arms again, heading off towards the Center at a much slower pace than the Hoenn girl.

OoO

Ash approached the fountain cautiously, not exactly sure of what he was going to say to Misty when she finally became aware of his presence. She was sitting on a bench opposite him, her face in her hands. . . Passersby were staring in an offhand sort of way as they went along, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was because she was putting on a spectacle by crying publicly.

He stepped up beside the bench and took the empty seat next to her. She removed her hands from her face, proving his theory, and revealing blood-red eyes that could've only been brought to existence by at least a good fifteen minutes crying. . . But Misty was all for denying it.

"W - would you believe. . ." She started, ". . . that some weirdo came up a - and pepper-sprayed me? Right out of the blue. . . ?"

Ash couldn't help the wry grin that crept upon his features, "And what about the fact that your shirt is so damp?"

". . . Some kid was running around, and he tripped and spilt his soda all over my front. Would you believe that?"

He quirked an eyebrow and gave a light snort. "Not in a million years, Myst. Sorry."

"Oh. . ." She moaned, and the tears started up again, almost in reply. She didn't wipe them away, or try to hide them from him, as though knowing it would be useless, "I - I guess we'll both just have to live with them. . ." And then she allowed her face to droop slightly lower, and the two of them just sat there.

Ash couldn't help but feel slightly bewildered by what was going on. . . Misty had told him that she was doing all of this, that she'd come all this way, forced the group to return to the Sootopolis shopping center, and faced the seer a second time, all to 'test a theory'. . . But, somehow, and maybe he was losing his mind, overreacting for thinking about things this way. . . It seemed strange that 'testing a theory' would include running away and breaking out into a fit of tears upon hearing the results.

His brow creased. May had attemted to warn him of that. . . and it wasn't as if the thought hadn't crossed his mind beforehand, but still. . . If nothing else, here was the proof. What should he say to her, then, to make it better? She already looked as though she believed it, and, if May's episode back in front of the fortuneteller had been any indication, so had the Hoenn girl. Whether or not he, Ash, was willing to fight against it meant nothing, if he was the only one.

So, maybe that was the best place to start. . .

"You know. . . we don't have to listen to her." He shrugged in a nonchalant sort of way as Misty looked at him. "The seer; she might be wrong. . . You never know."

"Ash. . ." Far from compelling her towards strength, Misty felt as though, if she were to stand, her legs would simply cripple beneath her, whatever she did. "You don't get it; of course not, you never have. . . I'm not going to risk it. She was right about everything else, wasn't she? She was right about me, about my 'season', about our friendship. . . What makes you think that she could be wrong about anything else?" She shook her head and, for the first time since he'd joined her, turned away from him, as though rejecting him, "No; no. . . I'm - I won't risk it. I don't want to destroy us, or our friends. . . and that's what we'll do. . . isn't it?"

"Ugh, Myst!" He said, and crumpled a hand through his hair in frustration, "I know you'd be worried about what could happen. You don't think I would? The point is. . . it's not like I'm saying we should only do this because it's a challenge for me, or because it's something that will obviously make you happy." He spat, and stomped a foot to the ground in his position before continuing. "What I meant when I said that we could go ahead with this - what I meant when I said that we don't _have _to listen to her. . . is that _I _don't _want _to."

". . . _Y _- _you_. . . ?" By now, the tears had stopped, as though frozen to the ducts of her eyes. She blinked, stared at him as he glanced almost anxiously back at her, although, at this point, he basically knew what to expect from her. After all, they'd spent years together, years arguing, years laughing, years being taunted by anonymous people about their abstract way of flirting, by friends and strangers alike, and then. . .

_"C'mon, Ash, even you're smarter than that."_ May had said. . .

Yes, contrary to popular belief, he was. He was fifteen years old, he'd been traveling for five years with people who'd constantly been teaching him life's lessons. . . Of course, he had to learn something once and awhile. And here it was; the fruits of his labor.

". . . Ash. . ." He was relieved, because this time, Misty had this small, weak grin on her face as she said his name, as though it were a remedy to an ancient illness that she'd fallen prey to. And then she was crying again, and still speaking, and he didn't know any way to comfort her, other than to keep listening. ". . . I - I thought it was so useless. . . because she said so, that woman. . . I gave up so easily. I - I'm sorry. . ." She continued to ramble on, and Ash only nodded, not entirely sure as to where this was going; at least, not immediately. ". . . I mean, I - I've kind of. . . been in love with you for. . . for years now, your know?" The tears slid down her cheeks, past her chin, neatly onto the front of her shirt as she spoke. "Maybe it's because of how easily we've always been able to lose sight of the important things, you know, like when we're fighting with each other. . . It's like the fortuneteller said. . . Our friendship's so shaky already. . . Why be the ones to make it crumble? I - I don't want to ruin anything. . . or everything. . ." She looked away from him again, as though growing slightly fearful, and he sighed and rose from his seat.

"Misty. . ." He resigned himself; he looked as though he were ready to leave her there, but then he knelt down beside her and gently grabbed a hold of both of her shoulders, "Look; we shouldn't be depending on strangers for advice, should we?" He waited for her to nod her head and then continued with what he had to say. "You know what I think? I think we should. . . I think we should depend on only us. What do you say, Misty? We can give this a shot, the tiniest bit of a shot, even, and if we think it's starting to fail, then we can bail on it and flip out, and run in opposite directions. . . if that's what you want to do."

She blinked at him in a bemused sort of way, and then raised one of her hands to grab his, which were still gripping her shoulders.

". . . Maybe - maybe that's a good idea. . . for right now."

OoO

**Notes **- Yes, progress! Er, it's not the exact way I wanted to end the chapter, like, at ALL, but I really had no choice, so there we are. Anyway, yes, thanks to all of you for your fascinating and wonderful reviews! Heh heh! I'm surprised that so many of you find this fic funny! I mean, I never really prided myself on a sense of humor, so, well, I never saw it coming - you know - all those reviews with the choking-on-humor action-y lines and things. Thanks so much. It really means a lot.

So, next chapter, we have Ash and Misty, and May and Drew, going on dates! YAY! Not a double-date! I thought about it and, well, I didn't want them to do anything too formal for their first time out, so I decided against it. Heh. So, yea, they're gonna go on dates with each other! How will it all turn out? Will the seer's foretelling of disaster come to be? And if it does, what will May and Misty have to say about it, when they're already shaky on accepting anything less than what the woman's said? Yee, only about two chapters left. . . !

Crap, that counted as a spoiler! I should really start to warn you all formally about them, shouldn't I. . . ? Oh, well. . . ? You know what? I should go start working on "The Strangest Kind of Love" again, that I should. . . I have yet so even start the third chapter. . . Yuck; that won't be pretty. . .

So, anyway, reviews will be appreciated! Flames will not! I'd actually like to set a bar this time around, as it seems that I've hit a low; not an all-time low, but just a late-time low. . . for Pokemon fan fic reviews. Heh. I'd like to have at least _sixty reviews _by the time I update again, please. Pretty please? It'll help Chibi out of her swirling - vortex - of - doom depression. . . Just thought I'd give it a shot.

Oh, wait! I have a life lesson to teach you all first before I go!

What is **Pokeshipping**? It is the romantic relationship between Ash and Misty of the Pokemon anime or manga.

What is **Contestshipping**? It is the romantic relationship between May and Drew of the Pokemon anime. . . and not the manga, since I'm not sure if Drew even exists there.

Now, in my summary on FFN, and in every chapter posted here, I've stated that this fic is going to be a Poke x Contestshippy fic. Now that you all have read the above statements, can you please learn to remember, live, breath those statements and not keep asking me who's going to get together, or keep saying things like 'I can't wait for Ash and May to get together, and Misty and Drew, too!' cause it's not gonna happen! Really, have I ever written an Advanceshipping fic? Did I say that this was going to be an Advanceshipping fic? Have I had Ash and May show anything remotely related to love towards each other. . . ? . . . I didn't think so.

Seriously, I don't know how much more obvious it can get. . . If you don't know the name of the ships, then you shouldn't even be reading this and saying how good it is! And really, like I said, how much more obvious could the emotions between the characters be expressed. . . ?

Oh, and, lesse. . . Gods, I think I had something else I wanted to say, but I can't remember, so, yea. . . Sorry to those who actually know what's going on, if you read through all of that for nothing. I just had to get it out. Please review, and to those who think I've mislead you, you know, like any Advanceshippers who might have been expecting some huge turn of events sometime soon, don't even go there. I did say that this was going to be a Pokeshipping and Contestshipping fic from the very beginning. . . It's your fault for misinterpreting it.

Until next time. . . !


	6. Intoxication of the Oblivious

**Author **- Chibi / Warlordess

**Disclaimer **– Er, my old one was outdated, but if you know the definition of the word 'disclaimer', then you know what goes here. I'll leave it up to you to come up with some wonderful, comical, snarky remark; okay?

OoO

**Fiction Title **- "Fighting the Fates"

**Chapter Six **- "Intoxication of the Oblivious"

**Summary **- While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends stumble across a local fortuneteller who says. . . dun, dun, dun! Ash and May are destined to be together! And then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. . . Whatever could they have to say about this? Pokeshippy and Contestshippy fic. Tee hee. :)

**Ages **-

Ash / 15

May / 13

Misty / 16

Drew / 14

Brock / 18

Max / 10

OoO

Drew could not have been more torturously bored in that moment if he'd been tied down for a month and forced to do nothing but watch a herd of Snorlax sleep. The only thing that kept him from leaping up and running at the wall, bashing his head repeatedly against it, was the slightly maniacal look that Pikachu was threatening him with.

That settled it; May and all of her friends were _insane_. . . There was nothing else for it.

He crossed his arms, brow furrowed, and nodded confidently, sure of this theory, and it eased his throbbing head for a total of two seconds, until. . .

". . . Okay, and that's it for Bulbasaur's video! Let's move on to Gyarados now, shall we?" Max said, his specs glinting as he held up a cartridge to show to the older Coordinator. Drew, for his part, was immediately floored. His life as he knew it was completely over, he knew, as he watched the young boy move to insert the video into the television.

And then his vision grew hazy just in time for the Pokemon Center's double doors to slide open. His glazed vision was still on the screen, having given up all hope of ever escaping, but the brilliant flash of light reflected from the glass entranceway drew his attention, even if only for a millisecond, and then. . .

"Oh, thank you!" He shouted, completely gone.

May leapt back as he jumped towards her, grateful for anything that got him away from the horror that was Max Beech and his dull, dull, _dull_ form of so-called entertainment. However, May's fear of her rivals (hopeful) temporary loss of sanity did seem to knock him back into himself.

"Er, sorry about that. . ." He coughed, slightly red in the face, ". . . It must have been the, er, delirium, I guess. So, what are you doing here, May? I thought for sure that you would be out doing something more worthwhile on a beautiful day like this. . . maybe working on your coordinating skills, you know, trying to make them equal with mine?" Covering for himself with the ultimatum of opinions, he reverted back to his former persona of arrogance. "But then, if you really like me so much. . ." He smirked and ruffled a hand through his sea-green hair, ". . . I suppose maybe you have something else to think about in the present time, don't you?"

There were about five seconds when he waited in silence, wondering if he'd actually said the wrong thing. Max and Pikachu gasped in exclamation from behind him but he looked up at May instead, wondering about _her_ reaction. Surprisingly, she didn't look threatened in the slightest; in fact, she grinned at him in a subtle sort of way and then turned to her younger brother.

"Sorry, but I need to rescue – er – borrow Drew for right now. I have something I need to talk to him about. I don't know how long it'll take, and it's kind of personal, though, so could you keep Pikachu here with you? Brock should be back in. . ." May faltered and blinked, then took a moment to sweatdrop in acknowledgment of the fact of how she'd left the older breeder-in-the-making at the Sootopolis shopping center with all of the things she'd bought, but then she shook herself from her reverie. ". . . Yea, he'll be back in a little while. But right now, we've gotta go. . . ! So, see ya!" She waved goodbye to her brother and grabbed Drew by the arm, feeling highly uncomfortable as she did so, and took off out the front doors of the Pokemon Center again.

"Oh, wait, May. . . !" Max exclaimed, but it was too late, "Well, good luck, then. . ."

Outside, May threw caution to the wind and allowed herself to get used to the feeling of Drew's skin against hers, because, for the moment, it seemed highly impossible that she ever would. Was this a part of that whole 'destruction' theory that the fortuneteller had cooked up for the group? After all, whoever said that the 'destruction' had to be in the form of a natural disaster such as lightning striking one of them down or something. . . ? Maybe the reason they weren't going to get together was simply because they couldn't ever learn to stand to touch each other?

"I think this is good. . . !" May stated happily, removing her grip from Drew and clapping her hands together in excitement. The thunderous shock coursing between them immediately faded. "Now, how about some ice cream?" She asked the rival Coordinator, jerking her thumb over her shoulder and in the direction of a dessert stand about five meters behind them.

"Ice cream. . . ? Now?" Drew asked, blinking in disbelief. Here he'd just gotten finished insulting her coordinating abilities, and then he'd near – mocked her for 'liking' him, and she chose to retaliate by inviting him out for ice cream? What type of revenge tactic was that? Unless she was going to poison him. . . If that was the case, then game set, and match. . . !

And the final score was May: 14, Drew: 69.

Drew smirked at the thought. . . He'd always prided himself on being a winner.

And then his more sane half of the mind took over. The fact that May was inviting him out, offering him something to eat, and keeping the mood light and reasonable, and the conversation airy. . . It could almost be assumed that this was a _date_. . . ! But that couldn't be right because the last time he'd seen her, May had cracked under the pressure of all this talk about destiny and whatever. . . There was no way she would do this, rebel against that woman seers' words. . . ! And he, Drew. . . well, he still didn't know what he wanted, now, did he?

"So. . . how about it? Do you want any ice cream or not?" May asked in a more impatient tone at this point, her hands on her hips. Drew had been silent for the past seven minutes, and then he'd suddenly smirked just like she was oh – so used to him doing. . . but in this case, it was just annoying. "Fine, then; I'll just get us a couple of strawberry cones. . ." She mumbled, and turned to get them, but faltered in her step when she suddenly heard Drew speak for the first time in forever.

"Chocolate."

". . . Excuse me?" She swung back around to face him with her inquiry.

"I want a chocolate cone; not strawberry," and that was all he said on the matter.

"Oh, okay. . . Then you wait here. And you better not try to run off!" She began to head off on her way again before adding offhandedly, ". . . You know, unless a group of your manic female fan club members try to strip you naked and sell all of your belongings on the internet. . . But let's just hope that your popularity has yet to reach such a peak."

Drew took a seat on an empty bench, leaning back lazily and sighing. What did May have to talk to him about? Why did she think that ice cream was such an adequate party favor for the discussion?

The female Coordinator walked up to the iced sweets stand and asked the vendor for two double cones. She tapped her fingers on the countertop while she waited and after she finished paying, she took the two ice creams into her hands and went back to join Drew. She handed one to him and began to eat her own as well, but somehow, it was an almost contemplative process.

"You know," she started with a quick glance in his direction, "Misty supposedly loves chocolate, too; Ash told me one time that she competed in some sort of Pokemon fishing contest and ended up winning a huge chocolate bar prize. . . and she never says 'no' to dessert, especially ice cream. . ." May coughed, clearing her throat almost innocently and Drew turned to stare at her with a quirked eyebrow, not bothering to notice as a particular part of his snack started to melt.

"First of all, I thought that it was an unwritten law that all girls must love chocolate –"

"—Well, it's not true, because I don't care for the stuff at all. . ."

". . . And second of all, you don't really expect me to believe that you're planning on having everything to do with your love – life revolve around what flavors of ice cream you have in common with everyone else?" Drew commented dryly, rolling his eyes and ignoring May's honestly hurt expression. "That's just the most childish thing you could attempt to ever excuse yourself with." He took a spare napkin from beside him and wiped his hand distractedly.

". . . Don't you think it makes sense though; at least a part of it?" May started, not giving up, as though it was her mission to prove the fatal flaws in everything that she – indeed – wanted to work out, "It seems dumb to you, yea, but this is just another thing to add to the over-all list of – well – _things_ that make us so incompatible, and that, at the same time, might make you and Misty, and Ash and I just the opposite. Like I said; small, insignificant, sure, but still. . . It _does_ make some sense."

Drew stopped for only two seconds on his way to finally start on his dessert, as if these words had finally reached him, breached him, in some way. But then the moment was over, the epiphany ruined. After all, he couldn't find the trouble to put up with it for any longer.

"Drew," she started suddenly again, sighing deeply, despondently, reservedly, and he began eating again in order to keep himself from becoming too interested in the way she was speaking to him. "I like you; I really do. And, well, I don't wanna think that stupid words can make this not work out. But you – I want you to – because I know you do. . . Tell me that you like me, too."

It was then that Drew had the consideration to start choking; right there. It was not something that well-mannered people did, and he attempted to turn and hide himself from May so that she didn't have to see him in his – er – moment of weakness, but that was rather hard, seeing as how she was the one to cause it in the first place, and she seemed to know that.

"Ah. . . ! Oh, no; I'm sorry, I'm sorry, okay? You don't need to kill yourself to prove a point!"

He continued to cough rather harshly, as though he were tearing up his vocal cords, but waved a hand at her as though to state that it wasn't her fault. She sighed gratefully, guilt-trip completely gone now.

". . . You w – want me to. . ." He started speaking about five seconds later in broken tones, but had to falter again as another wave of respiratory-related disbelief crashed over him. "Er, why should I tell you anything of how I feel?" He continued another few seconds later, seemingly fully recovered.

It was at this point that May sobered up and remembered what the fortuneteller had said about him, and his season; if he was indeed Winter, then friendships – relationships of any kind – were not at all his strong point. And what was tied directly in with the whole lot of relationships that any one person would or could ever have in life?

Emotions; feelings; sentiment; passion. Things that Drew seemed completely incapable of, unfortunately.

Nevertheless, she would not relent.

"Why should you tell me. . . ? Drew, whether they're your feelings or not, they're still feelings about me, aren't they? I have a right to know, don't I?" May asked, now just as skeptical as he had been beforehand.

"Maybe, yea, but that doesn't mean that there's a point to it, really. I don't get it. If you already know, then why do you have to hear it? You said that you liked me; you said that I liked you. . . Isn't that progress enough for now? Why do you need anything else? Why do I need to tell you anything more? It's not like it'll salvage the situation; this is as good as it's going to get, May, believe me."

"Maybe it's because. . . we just _need_ to hear it. It's relieving to hear it," she started, "Look at us; think about it. We've been so pressured these past two days and. . ." She was cut off by his expression and recounted her words, ". . . I mean, I know that I've been. . . you know. . . a little stressed out, at least. I would think that you have been, too. All these things we've been hearing about how, you know, certain people can only be with certain other people. . . It makes you wonder just who you're right for, just how many times you're going to be disappointed. But then you think about it and you realize that, if you can just hear simple phrases, if you can just understand minuscule truths, then maybe even the craziest of things can work out. And, that way, we don't have to depend on perfection to attain happiness."

She paused here, too, as though hoping to find the most innocent, flawless way of wording her next line. ". . . So, if you can tell me something as relieving and as simple as, 'I like you, too, May', then that makes it so much easier for me to believe that we can stand a chance against other things, no matter what they are. . . even if it's supposedly us that's going to be our own downfall. So, how can you not say it now?"

"Because before, you didn't want this, and right now, you still barely do. What makes you think that I want it any more than you? And how can you even dare to tell me how I feel for other people? You don't have the right. . ." Drew rose from his seat and stood still, facing away from her, ". . . I see where you were going with this; you were trying to be so logical, and yet not, both at the same time. It's unreasonable. Choose whichever way you want to go, May. If you want to be logical, then it's not right to want to be here, convincing me of any romantic notions at all, is it? Maybe you should be with him right now; with _Ash_. And if you want to be so specious, then stop trying to sound so rational and calm when you're talking about something as whimsical and farfetched as us being together, when it makes next to no sense. Maybe that's what love is about in the end, but if you're going to be so diverse about it, then you don't have a right to make any decisions about where you want to be and who you want to be with just yet." He glanced back at her a little more coldly than she'd have liked, and both of them could tell that the other was upset, "Do you get it now?"

She nodded mutely, but she didn't move. He took it as his queue to leave and marched back towards the Pokemon Center, leaving May to her very _reasonable_, very _logical_, tears.

OoO

Ash accepted the two hotdogs and sodas from the vendor in the local park and handed one of each to the redheaded girl beside him. The two smiled at each other as they paid and continued walking, feeling that everything was quite right with the world, and feeling as though, for once, everything had gone perfectly for them. It was definitely a rare occurrence, at least on the first time around.

Ash couldn't displace the constant grin on his face. He felt stupid, and giddy; like a schoolgirl. Yea, that was the scariest thought ever to run across anyone's mind, and it brought to light the memory of "Ashley" and her wonderful twenty minute lifeline as she traveled to Celadon gym way back when, years ago, in Kanto, when Erika and her gym-mates wouldn't allow Ash his chance to battle for their Rainbow Badge. . . but he couldn't help it.

You see, when you realize that you have absolutely everything you could ever hope to have attained, then you begin to feel highly euphoric because of it. And, as Ash held his hotdog in one hand, his soda in the other, and then he thought about the many badges he'd gained on his journey, and his Pokemon, and his mom back home. . . and then, finally, as he allowed a two-second-long glance in Misty's direction, the feeling only increased.

These were teenage hormones at their worst, sure, but still. . . he wasn't complaining. He didn't doubt his feelings, his heart, because it'd never led him wrong before. . . Minus the times he'd gotten crushed under giant chandeliers, or the times he'd gotten thrown over cliffs into wild-winded oceans and almost drowned, or the times he'd gotten stranded on abandoned islands. . . But, you know, other than all of those, his heart had always done him right, and for more than a year, it had been telling him nearly constantly that Misty was one of the most important things in his life – nay, _the_ most important thing – and, well, seeing as there was no life-threatening trouble to be gained by falling in love – (hopefully; he'd never done it before now, so he couldn't really be sure, could he?) – then he didn't feel he had anything to worry about.

And this "euphoria" that kept welling up within him whenever he thought about it. . . well, it only promoted that way of thinking.

"Ash. . ." Misty started quite suddenly, and he turned to stare at her, fully aware that the weird grin was still spread wide across his face. He attempted to restrain it, but his efforts proved fatal.

"Er, what is it, Myst?" He asked, and finished off the last of his hotdog, threw the wrapper away in a trashcan they happened to be passing, and covered the half of his face that she could see clearly with his jacket. They'd just started a trial-session of a relationship. He didn't need her thinking that he was utterly insane, now, did he?

"Well, first I wanna say, you know, thanks. . . for everything. . ." She sounded truly grateful, he knew, but he could also hear the 'but' coming a mile away, and so he nodded his affirmation and allowed her to go on, ". . . I just wanted to know, though. . . What do you think the most important concept is, between two people in a relationship?" She looked slightly troubled as she asked this of him, and Ash blinked, not sure what to say. Well, he _did_ know what to say, actually; he knew what he thought was most important, because he'd told Drew of it just the other day. . .

But why would she bother asking him such a random, almost ridiculous, question?

"Their feelings." He commented simply, "Their feelings for each other. A relationship just isn't one worth having if you don't love the person you're with. . ." He shrugged, but couldn't help glancing at her to see her reaction to his reply.

Misty's expression was a mixture of awe and disappointment, and he wasn't sure that was a good thing or bad. Nevertheless, she didn't tell him why she asked, but simply corrected his answer.

"It's _honesty_, Ash. Honesty is always one-hundred percent the most important thing in a relationship. Emotions, discussions, outings, everything that takes place between the two people all falls into that category."

"Oh. . ." He placed a hand to the back of his neck and rubbed sheepishly, "Heh; sorry."

". . . Yea; me, too." She commented softly, but when he quirked an eyebrow at her, she just shook her head and started walking again. Ash hadn't even noticed that they'd stopped in the first place, but took off after her either way. ". . . So, when is the right time to lie to the person you're in a relationship with?"

Ah, he _definitely_ knew the answer to this one. . . ! And, with a wide grin on his face once more, Ash laughed loudly, "It's a trick question, right? Never. . . ! You just said that honesty was the most important thing! Why would someone lie to their partner? That would just cause all sorts of problems. . . No, never." He shook his head as though sure of himself.

"Ash, I said that honesty was most important, yea, but I didn't say that you couldn't ever lie. . . ! What happens if something that could cause a huge misunderstanding between you and your, er, girlfriend happens to you? Say, you get caught up with another ex or something, but there are no witnesses, and you both swear each other to secrecy, so there are sure to be no informative leaks? If you told your girlfriend, there could be a chance that she'd never forgive you. . . because she might not understand. So, maybe. . . isn't it better just to leave it alone, and not mention it to her at all? And before you say that that's not really lying, just know that it all fits into the same category, okay. . . ?"

"B – but. . ." Ash groaned, confused as all hell. "But you said. . . What about the honesty-thing? Ugh; what are you trying to prove here, Misty? Why are you bothering to ask me such. . . _stupid_. . . questions? They don't mean anything for us, do they? Because we already know where we stand!"

"They're not stupid questions! They mean something to everyone at some point, believe me! And I'm proving. . . never mind." Misty turned her nose up and continued on her way, dropping the remnants of her hotdog into another trashcan they were passing, having lost her appetite.

"Misty, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to sabotage this – what we've got going on right now!" Ash didn't relent as he strode alongside her and grabbed a hold of her hand to stop her from running away from him again. "So if that is what you're doing, then give it up right now, because whether you like it or not, I _do_ love you! There, I said it! Does it make you feel better? Does it clear the air? Because it should be relieving, shouldn't it?"

"B – but. . . I'm sorry, Ash, but it's _not_." Misty looked up at him with wavering eyes. "It would be, if you had. . . passed, but you didn't. Or, you haven't so far. . ."

"'_Passed'_. . . ? You were testing me? On how relationships go? And you expected me to pass? Misty, do you even remember who I am? Did you hit your head back home before you came here or something?" He laughed lightly as though this cleared up everything, but she didn't join him.

"Ash, it's a test on our compatibility. . . ! The questions were directly linked to how you would treat me in a relationship!" Misty was finally able to pull her hand from his grasp and glared venomously up at him, as though he'd cut her deeply with his humorous attitude towards it all. "How can you just act like you don't care? You did say you loved me, didn't you. . . ? Shouldn't you be worried?"

"But. . . don't we already know that we're not compatible? Isn't that why we're doing this?" Ash stated in confusion, but he regretted it immediately afterward. He didn't mean to word it that way. It came out as though this were all just another challenge for him. . . He didn't want Misty to think of herself that way.

"No, Ash." Evidently, she had caught on to the cruel remark, as well, "We were doing this because we wanted to; because we honestly cared for each other. At least, that's what I thought. . . But if you don't, then, please, don't bother yourself with me any longer. I wouldn't want you to lose your last brainstems to my mallet of doom." And she turned and began her march back towards the Center.

Hoping to rectify the situation, Ash said the first thing that came to mind.

"B – but I love your mallet of doom. . . !"

Well, it definitely did the trick. Misty turned back to face him, and the next thing he knew, she had her hands on her hips and her lips pursed together almost like a disappointed parent.

"Ash, that was the dullest pick-up line _ever_!" She rolled her eyes as she replied. "You're just lucky that it works for you. Now, c'mon, we still have fifteen minutes to go before we get back to the Center."

"So, you mean, it's not over yet? Yay for me!" He grabbed her hand again and launched himself forward, taking off down the pathway, his other fist thrown successfully into the air. The euphoria had returned in full-force, because, as he'd thought before, there was no way for him to be hurt by the emotions running so completely throughout him right then; well, at least, not long-term, anyway.

He tripped slightly over a crack and, deciding that, if he fell from running too fast, it would not be a good idea to drag Misty down with him, he slowed his pace to an average one, just as the sun began its final decent against the horizon in the distance. He wouldn't really have noticed, except for the fact that the sun was the one thing that had kept the day so warm, and now that it was getting dark, he could feel the temperature start to drop slowly around him.

". . . Er, it's getting kind of. . . _cold_. . . out here." Misty commented tentatively, and as though she was trying to point something out, mentally eased him in a certain direction. Ash turned and blinked at her.

_Way to go, Myst. Kudos to you for stating the obvious! _Was written all over his face as he quirked an eyebrow quizzically at her. Almost ten seconds later, however, he slammed his foot to the ground as though something had suddenly clicked, and he grinned wildly at her.

"Oh, I get it now! It's another test, isn't it?" He asked, pointing at her. She allowed an almost coy smile to grace her expression, but didn't answer. Well, that settled it. Ash may not have been any type of genius, on any plain, you know, _ever_, but he could definitely tell when he was supposed to do or say something special. ". . . I know what I have to do this time! I'm supposed to see how fast I can piggy-back you to the Center, right? To get you sheltered and warmed up for the night as fast as possible? That's it, isn't it?"

The grin on Misty's face dropped so fast it looked almost as though it had been splashed off with white-out. She sighed, groped at her temple in a slightly aggravated, slightly resigned sort of way with her free hand and then looked at Ash in such a way that it clearly stated that it would do him a world of good to let go of her other.

"Uhm, could you come over here with me for a moment, Ash? I need to talk to you about something. . ." She pointed towards a currently vacated bench with a grim look on her face, and he nodded and followed her towards it, allowing her to take a seat first, in case he chose the wrong half to sit on (and she happened to have a preference), and it led up to her chewing him out in a more violent sense of the word.

"So, what's going on, Myst? What's wrong now?" He asked a bit too exasperatedly, and he noted that it _did_ affect her. The light of her eyes seemed to die out a little more at his tone.

". . . Three chances, Ash." She sighed again and resolved herself to the task at hand. "I gave you three chances to break past that whole. . . fortunetelling thing. . . that says there's no way in hell that we'll ever work out. And you proved that that seer from the Sootopolis mall was. . . perfectly, utterly right about us. No matter how we feel about each other, if we can barely make it through a day without an argument of some sort, or my malleting you, if we can't prove that we can treat each other with respect, dignity – like we know that we both would deserve in a relationship – then this isn't worth it in the end."

". . . Isn't. . . worth it? What's not?"

"This – this whole thing. . . ! Ash, you did prove something tonight, whether you believe it or not. We're not _good_ for each other, if nothing else; W – we're almost like a hurricane." She grinned sadly at him and her eyes began to tear up again, just as they had earlier that day. "I want to ask you to do something for me." She leant in towards him and dropped her voice to a whisper as though she expected everyone in town to be listening in on their conversation.

"Well, yea, sure; whatever it is you want." Ash said a little too eagerly, but he held himself firmly so that it didn't sound like he was going to break down at the moment. He didn't like where this was going. . .

"Before we. . . end up destroying everything and everyone we've got. . . I want you to end it, to end _us_, right now."

Something inside of him shattered, and he knew that he'd been wrong. It was so often that he was wrong, of course, but all of those other times seemed entirely and absolutely unimportant. However, knowing that he'd been wrong about this, experiencing this now, it almost made him double over in pain. . . He'd been so mistaken about the whole prospect of falling in love, about the spectrum of emotions that he'd been positive he was going to experience. . . Because Ash had assumed that he'd never be hurt by such a simple thing.

Oh, how he'd been so _wrong_.

". . . A – and why can't you do it. . . ? I mean, why can't _you_ end this 'us' that's going so horribly?" He managed to ask her about fifteen seconds later, completely dry-eyed, and it was as though he didn't care at all for what was going on.

"Because there's a next step that I think _you_ should also take. . . It would do you good. . ." Misty choked herself to tears as she continued to explain herself.

"Do _me_ good? What could possibly do me any good right now?" Ash stated, and it was in a cold, bitter tone that betrayed how injured he truly was by everything that was happening.

"I want you to go out on a date with May."

He blinked confusedly again, as though sure he'd heard her wrong, but she stared back in such a grave way that he knew then that there had been no misinterpretation of her comment.

"I think that you should go out on a formal, planned-out date with May, and enjoy yourself, and make sure that she does the same. . . and see how it goes. Because, well, if it goes better than this, then it's got to mean that there's something to this whole compatibility-thing, right?"

"But, Myst. . . Look," he tried to deter her plans, "there's no guarantee that Drew and May even had as much of a fallout as we did! We should at least be sure that they had some type of problem before you go trying to set me up with another girl, because I doubt that Drew would be okay with me going out with his current girlfriend. I mean, he's a famous trainer and he's got a fan club, meaning there're are probably hundreds upon hundreds of girls ready to throw themselves at him, but I don't think he'd risk something _that_ stupid. . ."

"Fine, then; we'll go see if they had a good time today after the trip back to the mall, but if they didn't, and it turns out that the two of them ended up having just as much of an issue as we did. . . Well, I want you to promise me right now that you'll agree to go out with May, because I know that if you find out that you were wrong, you'll back out of the whole thing later on." The redhead reached her feet and held out her hand to shake on it.

Ash joined her there and took her hand in his for the last time that evening, an almost competitive expression on his face as he replied; ". . . If that's what you want, then okay. It's a deal."

OoO

"So, let me get this straight. . . They've been like this _all_ evening. . . ?" Ash sweatdropped, not even bothering to glance in Misty's direction, but instead keeping his eyes trained on May, who was sitting in a certain corner of the room, and Drew, who was sitting in the exact opposite place, on the other side of the lobby. Neither was looking at one another; in fact, they seemed to be trying extra hard to avoid eye contact.

"Yep, sorry. . . At least, they've been that way since they came back from. . . wherever they went after _someone_ left me with her millions of bags, back at Sootopolis mall." Brock coughed meaningfully and stared at May, who turned her back on him without a second thought. This proved only one thing, and that was that she must have had something very serious on her mind not to feel any remorse.

"Look, Myst, this doesn't necessarily mean anything. . ." Ash attempted to emphasize, turning to face her finally with a pleading expression on his face, but she had an unyielding one on her own.

"Sorry, Ash; you promised, and this means something, whether we want it to or not. So, are you going to go ask May, or should I? It's more the man's job to ask the girl out, but if you'd rather not, then I understand. I can do it on my own."

"I – I don't. . ."

"Look, I have no idea what you two are talking about, but it'll have to wait. We have another problem right now." Brock interrupted again, stepping in between the two and placing an arm around both of their shoulders. Ash sighed in relief; he'd never been more thankful for his older friends' bad timing. "The thing is, Misty's obviously planning on staying in town tonight, and, well, I've already talked to Nurse Joy about it, and it turns out that there won't be another available room until tomorrow. . . So, yea. Our room is cramped enough as it is, what with the four of us, plus our things, and Pikachu. We wouldn't have enough room for another sleeping bag." He shrugged as though having realized that the situation was hopeless.

"So, what are we going to do? I mean, I guess I could camp outside. . . but now that I think about it, I don't even know if I really came prepared for all of that. I basically thought I'd get here, beat a few heads in, and head back to the gym. . ." Misty shrugged here, too, and ignored her friends' flinches.

"I guess that I could help with that. . ." Drew stated carelessly, walking up with a cool expression on his face and not a single glimpse in May's direction as he passed her. "I got a single trainers' room, and I guess I could sacrifice the extra space."

"Excuse me? I don't think that it's very. . . kosher. . . to spend the night with someone I barely know; at least, not in close quarters." Misty reprimanded him, her face completely red at the embarrassing thought.

Drew turned red, too, and it was obvious almost immediately that that hadn't been what he had in mind at all, "No, no. . . ! I meant that I'd switch places with her. You two could share the single trainer's room, and I'd take her bed. That way, there're no gender issues, and although my rooms a bit smaller, there's definitely room enough for an extra person."

". . . Actually. . ." The redhead gave a sidelong glance in May's direction, and then nodded, ". . . Yea, that'll work. Thanks a lot, guy-I-barely-know. I – I mean Drew. This is perfect, considering I have something to talk to May about anyway. . ."

At the mention of the female Coordinators name, Drew went slightly stiff, threw the key into her arms, and made a comment about how he was going to go out for a bit to train his Pokemon for some anonymous competition. He didn't bother stating a name, proving that his explanation was entirely falsified.

As he walked out the door, May seemed to sense why he'd left, and she gave a slight sniff, reaching her feet and heading towards the back hallway that would lead towards the trainers' rooms.

"Uhm, I'm tired, so I guess it's time to hit the sack. . . Goodnight, guys. . . !" She waved back at them all and marched off.

"I guess that's my queue. . ." And Misty was off like a rocket, following in the younger girls' direction. "See you tomorrow."

As soon as she was gone, Brock faced his younger friend and mentally careened straight into him.

"So, are you going to tell me, or am I just going to have to wait it out until one of you shouts out the details in another grudging argument?" He asked quizzically.

"I guess that's the only choice you've got, Brocko, 'cause I'm not in the mood to say a thing. In fact, to avoid anymore awkward questions, I think that I'll go to bed, too. This day's been nothing but a big flop of disappointment anyway, right. . . ?" And with an eerily wry smile, Ash began stalking off towards the dorms. . . and then he froze again. "Oh, wait a second. . . Uh, Brock? I think that we've got a problem with this living arrangement you've set up for the night. . ." His expression turned suddenly ill at ease as he sweatdropped.

"Problem. . . ? What problem?" And then there was a lot of uncomfortable shuffling and bemused blinking as the raven-haired trainer launched himself into an explanation about what damage he and Misty had done earlier that day. . .

. . . While, about one hundred meters away, Misty was explaining to May the same thing she'd clarified for Ash earlier on that evening – that was, that the two of them might have a much better time with each other, than with any significant others they might have had in mind beforehand, and as such, they should attempt to do something about it.

They were sitting in Drew's now-vacant room, occupying its space quite fully for only two people. May had offered Misty the bed, seeing as the redhead hadn't exactly come as prepared as anyone would have liked for an overnight trip, but Misty had said that, for now, it might have been better if May used it for. . . _remedial_. . . purposes; you know, in case the Hoenn girl tended to faint easily.

"Let me get this straight. . ." May was saying now, with blotchy, red eyes from the crying she'd been doing just a little while earlier. Thankfully, she'd stopped long enough to hear her friend out. ". . . You want me t – to just drop all of the drama that's been going on between me and Drew these past couple of days, just like that, and go out on a date with Ash? Who's in love with you but has agreed to this because he wants to make you happy?" May blinked as though something else had slid into place. "_This_ would make you happy? What is wrong with that head of. . ." Misty glared threateningly and May forfeited the game, ". . . that head of Mother Nature's, giving us such. . . testy weather today. . . ? Heh, heh, heh. . ."

"Smooth, May." Misty rolled her eyes. "I'm not happy with this, but I'm not going to force anyone into something that would just ruin them. You wouldn't do that to Drew, would you? I mean, even if you liked him a lot – or loved him – if he had a chance at something a lot better, you'd let him go for that, wouldn't you?"

". . . Probably not, actually. I mean, not at first. . . It would take a lot of convincing to deter me from what I really want." May said, and her cheeks turned slightly red as though she were ashamed of herself. "But it doesn't matter now; there's nothing more I can do for this, is there?"

"Well, then, look at it from my point of view. . . The fortuneteller must have been right about me and Ash on some plain, because we're nothing but wind and fire, burning down a forest. I mean, after we did so much damage over the years, I dunno how I couldn't have seen it before; the arguments, the mallet-whacking, the insults, the bike-wrecking, the Pokemon-Center-room destroying, the Pokemon _Center_ destroying. . ." Misty looked like she was about ready to start bashing her head against the nearby wall; mercifully, she was retaining the urge.

". . . Fine, yea, I'll do it. I'll go out with Ash; it's not that I want to, but right now, what else do I have to lose, right? And maybe this could help prove everything the seer said wrong, too. . ." Although, by the expressions on both girls' faces, they doubted it very much so. "So, can we finally go to. . . Wait. . . did you just say Pokemon-Center-room destroying. . . ? Y – you wouldn't happen to mean any of the rooms in, er, _this_ Pokemon Center, would you. . . ?"

The two girls blinked again, and then Misty broke out into self-conscious, short laughter, her hand behind her neck, rubbing anxiously.

"You see, it's a _very_ funny thing about that. . ."

. . . And about four rooms down the hall, Ash, Brock, Max, and Drew – who'd just returned from "training" – stared at the demolished floors, walls, beds, and window of their own living quarters from the doorway. . . Everything was just as obliterated as it had been earlier that day, making the male Coordinator amongst them suddenly very upset about giving away his relatively clean, inhabitable counterpart about a half-hour beforehand.

"Uh. . ." Brock and Max stated in depressing awe of it all.

"Heh." Ash said, sweatdropping again. Pikachu joined him in his nervous stance.

". . . So, does this happen every time she comes to town for a visit. . . ?" Drew said in a cool tone, sounding very much so like he wasn't in the mood to be friendly towards Misty at all the next time he saw her.

Ash sighed; _Just wait until he finds out about the date May and I have got going on for tomorrow. . ._

OoO

**Notes** – Yes; a long-awaited update! Well, I was waiting for it, at least, 'cause I was waiting for the reviews. . . After all, looky-here at all the reviews Chibi got last time! Yeehee! I'm so proud of me! And you, because you all must love me just oh-so much to be so sweet in your comments. . . So, thank you so much for those!

Oh, and please ignore Drew's obvious OOC-ness. I know that I could have done better, but for the sake of the humor, and the romance, and the drama, and the fact that I've only seen about twenty minutes of him on the anime. . . Yea, please, just forgive me or ignore it. Whichever is easier for you.

Anyway, other than an apology for how long this chapter took to update, I guess I've got nothing much else to say! Only one more chapter to go, I hope! As far as I know, it is. . . Unless I can't fit it all in the next chapter. . . but I don't really have any juicy details on the date Ash and May are gonna go on as of yet, and that's the only thing that's holding me back so far. . . Darn. Oh, well. . . I still plan on writing it all out at once, no matter how long it takes, and no matter how many words! Hah! Get ready for another Illicit Saints! Er, no; never mind that. . .

But all reviews (especially positive ones) will be appreciated!

Until next time!

Oh, wait, a P.S. sorta thing. . . As for May's not liking chocolate, well, that was my own personal touch because, frankly, _I_ can't stand the stuff, and so, for the sake of this fic, neither can she. Heh.


	7. As You Were, and As You Could Be

**Author **- Chibi / Warlordess

**Disclaimer **– Er, my old one was outdated, but if you know the definition of the word 'disclaimer', then you know what goes here. I'll leave it up to you to come up with some wonderful, comical, snarky remark; okay?

OoO

**Fiction Title **- "Fighting the Fates"

**Chapter Seven **- "As You Were, and As You Could Be"

**Summary **- While making their way through Sootopolis, Ash and friends stumble across a local fortuneteller who says. . . dun, dun, dun! Ash and May are destined to be together! And then Misty and Drew pop into the picture. . . Whatever could they have to say about this? Pokeshippy and Contestshippy fic. Tee hee. :)

**Ages **-

Ash / 15

May / 13

Misty / 16

Drew / 14

Brock / 18

Max / 10

OoO

The next day was the most unusual for any of them. Misty was the first to wake up, seeing as she'd agreed to set the date up for May and Ash. She made the phone-call to a local restaurant that Nurse Joy had told her about; one that she had heard had great food, service, and welcomed compliments. She could just as easily have tried to sabotage everything she was trying to do. . . but she knew that that wasn't the point of this experiment.

The next to wake up was May, who had quite a uniform to plan. Again, the thought of sabotage came to mind – why not wear something so completely unappealing that Ash went squealing in the opposite direction? – but, in the end, she knew that this was important. If not to her or anyone else that was personally involved, then to Misty. And she had promised that she would go through with it. And so it wouldn't be right to mess with that as of now.

Drew and Max woke up next, totally unaware of the event that would be taking place as of later that day. It was quite a shock to the younger Beech sibling when he turned to wake Ash, and he found the Pokemon trainer laying there in his bed, staring unblinkingly up at the ceiling with a blank expression on his face. He looked as though he hadn't gotten any sleep at all the night before – as though some horrible news had prevented him from reaching that wonderful plain of dreams.

Drew, of course, noticed this, too, but he didn't really see how it could affect him. He thought that he had other things to worry about, things that didn't involve anyone other than himself and May. . . until he exited the room, walking towards the lobby, and ended up colliding straight into said girl, sending her crashing to the floor.

He would have helped her back to her feet, but he was too busy trying to catch on to the fact that she wasn't wearing her everyday traveling-clothes. Today's ensemble was a spaghetti-strap, cherry-blossom colored dress, knee-length skirt, with matching heels of a scarlet hue that laced up her ankles. In her hair was a Beautifly barrette made of glassy pearls sparkling in the morning sunshine.

After ten seconds of his just staring at her, blinking, and her waiting impatiently for him to give her a hand, which he failed to do, she succeeded in raising herself up off of the floor. However, the aggravation she felt at the situation melted almost instantly to be replaced with reservation as she clasped her hands anxiously and tightly in front of her.

". . . So, what do you think? I'm going on a date today." She said, and finally caught his eye.

". . . It's just. . ." Her words breached the barrier that her attire had molded into his head, and he snapped out of the trance he'd been in before, ". . . not my business then, is it?" He avoided looking at her expression any longer.

She 'hmphed' in dignity, attempting to side-step him and head into the lobby of the Center and look herself over in the large mirror that was acquired in the public female trainers' restroom.

". . . Who is it with?" His statement stopped her in her tracks. She couldn't help but feel grateful at the knowledge of his curiosity. However – and she couldn't hide the smirk that grew on her face at the very thought – she also wanted to make him suffer a little, even if it was only for a couple of seconds. . .

"Who is _what_ with?" She asked oh-so innocently.

"You'd really like to play that game forever, wouldn't you? Well, forget it. The _date_, May; I just want to know who you're going to spend your valuable time with."

". . . Oh." Well, that had been disappointing beyond belief. "Yea; it's with Ash." She turned and continued on her way, fondly aware of the fact that Drew hadn't liked that little bit of news anymore than she had when she'd first found out that she was going to be doing it (at least, not by the look on his face, he hadn't).

". . . You know, for someone who claims to have been so passionate about emotions being more important than anything else, you sure have given in easily. And what's this? Only about ten hours after our little fallout? I would have expected a bit longer of a wait from you. . . but then again, what else could come of it? After all, what you and Ash have is fate, right? And you've already shown that you find it hard to fight that."

"You have no idea. . . !" May turned on her heel to face him again, her hands curled into fists. It was rare that she got this angry. It was true that she and Drew hardly ever saw eye to eye, but that was usually to do with their Pokemon Contests, and it was mostly when they were in the middle of one of their insulting grudge matches. . . But this time, it was definitely nothing like that. This time, she had something real to prove. "You were the one who said I should decide what I wanted. . . ! You were the one who said that, if I didn't want to go for what was illogical, I should be with Ash. . . ! Well, guess what? I had _already_ decided! You were wrong, Drew! You were just being. . . I don't know what you were being, if you were trying to prove a point, or if you were being senseless, or testing me, or pushing me away; but if the latter was the case, guess what? It worked! Because Misty and Ash went out yesterday, too, and they didn't do so well either, and now Misty thinks that since we had a problem, then the seer was right about us all! So she's forced both Ash and me to agree to a date! . . . So good for you, Drew!"

And then she was gone, heading in the direction of the restroom again. Drew quirked an eyebrow, feeling that perhaps she'd been calling on a bit more drama than was necessary. . . and then Max appeared.

"Ash told me what's going on; and I guess now _you_ know, too." The younger boy stepped up to the male Coordinator's side and flashed his glasses accordingly. Drew didn't seem fazed. Stranger things had happened lately; like girls showing up in fancy clothes and then freaking out on him. "You know, it's not like she wanted to do this; she said so herself. It was Misty's plan, because she feels that there's really something to this whole fate-thing, since both you and my sister, and Ash and Misty, had some issues last night."

". . . And now, because _you_ think so, I should be feeling sympathetic for her? Just because May says she really had nothing to do with it? After she just got done screaming her head off at me, sounding totally unbalanced, might I add?"

". . . Well, maybe she did come on a bit strong, but let's not forget how much truth came out in her statement. . . and there's one more thing you might find interesting. . . but then again, I'm not so sure." And then Max walked past him, kneeling on the ground and dabbing at the linoleum floor.

"What? When I accidentally knocked her down, I scuffed her shoe? I'll apologize for that, since I'm sure she'll complain that it ruined her perfect image. . ." Drew stated, scoffing quite irritably.

"No; it's not that. . . It's just. . ." Max turned back to face the older boy again and held up his index finger – the one he'd drawn across the floor – showing what he'd gathered there. ". . . She had to be upset by whatever you two were fighting about, since she was crying so much when she ran off."

Drew didn't move at first. In fact, he didn't seem to be breathing much either. He looked as though he was fighting off the urge to feel rather in the wrong about everything he'd said and done over the past day and a half. As Max continued to look him over, the Coordinator finally shook himself off and flipped his bangs in a casual, haughty sort of way – careless – and then placed his hands into his pockets.

"I'm not feeling guilty; I'm really not." He convinced the both of them as the younger Beech sibling stared him down with a fierce expression of unblinking calm. One bat of the eyelid, two. . . "Just leave it."

Meanwhile, Misty sat back in the room she and May had been sharing for the night, forcing herself to remain calm. It was rather hard, however, when she kept glancing at the clock. It was eleven forty-five a.m. The lunch reservation that she'd set up for May and Ash was for twelve fifteen p.m. . . . In other words, only a half an hour away from the current time. Could she really handle what was going on. . . ?

A tap signaled at the door, and it knocked her from her reverie, gratefully. For right now, she didn't have much of a choice. She got up from her seat on the bed, sighed, and went to open the door. She opened it to see Brock, but before she got the chance to say anything, he pushed his way inside.

"Okay, you've got to tell me what's going on. Ash won't, but by the sound of it, everyone else seems to know by now. May's parading around in some fancy little number, Drew's sulking, Max is taking bets, and Ash has locked me out of the room – which you two destroyed, so we still have to deal with the tab for that, but we'll get to that later. Anyway, back to Ash. . . I tried getting in there a little while earlier, but the door wouldn't open, and I kept hearing explosions, maniacal laughter; it sounds like he's gone quite mad in there. . ." Brock finished in an irritable mutter. He turned suddenly on his heel after pacing back and forth in the room, facing Misty once again. "So you've got to be the one to tell me – what the _hell_ is going on?"

Misty took a moment to step back and collect her thoughts, catching up with everything that Brock had just managed to utter in one breath. Someone should really create an award for such an amazing feat as that. . .

". . . Well, I mean, it's. . ." She gave in and pointed to the bed, giving him the impression that he should sit down. ". . . going to be a long story." And, indeed, she began to tell him, everything from the point at which Ash had caught up with her in the Sootopolis shopping center yesterday, to the point at which she'd sat the raven-haired trainer down and forced him to agree to the very reason that May was parading around in above-mentioned "fancy little number".

"So, Ash and May are going out on a date?"

"Yea."

"And they're only doing this because you told them that they should do it?"

"Yea."

"Because you think that, since both you and Ash, and May and Drew, had some problem or other on your very first date ever in your lives last night, there must be something wrong with the chemistry, and not the fact that it was your _first date ever_?"

"Er. . . yea. . . That's about right."

"Misty, I don't know how to say this. . . And I know that, when I do say it, it's going to come out totally wrong and I'm going to end up on the most wounding end of that nail-ish mallet of yours, but I just feel that it has to be said; since when have you been the type to give in so easily to what you know is wrong?"

"What are you talking about?" She uttered, quirking an eyebrow, confused.

"I'm talking about the fact that, when I traveled with you for those almost-five years, you had a certain strong faith in a number of things. . . Water Pokemon, love, righteousness, etc. . . . And now, just because of some seer and her stupid fancy phrases, you give up all of that? I thought that you had a greater personality than that. I mean, you used to grill anyone who bad-mouthed Water Pokemon; you used to fight for the rights of Pokemon that were used for Team Rocket's evil employment; you used to step forcefully in between any girl who made a move on Ash whenever they tried to say or do something that was considered stepping into your territory. . ."

". . . Yea; so?"

"So. . . you've given up all of that, simply because some woman with possible-paranormal powers says that it won't work out. Misty, think about it! You've had a thing for Ash since you were thirteen, and he's had a thing for you since he was fourteen – and I'm only talking consciously here! You haven't torn each other – or the rest of us – to pieces yet, and you've been fighting each other almost constantly since the day you met! If you haven't done it yet, what makes you think you can do it now? And like I said about the date-thing, it was your first one, to start off with. Of course it wasn't going to go according to plan. I wouldn't have been surprised if you tripped over one another and landed in a huge fountain full of Goldeen! As for the test on Ash's romantic side. . . well. . . that wasn't your best idea. Ash was right; did you really expect him to pass? I mean, c'mon. . ."

"But what about Drew and May? They didn't do well on their date either. . ." Misty commented, wondering what Brock's retaliation would be to that comment.

"Well, you've known Drew barely two days now, so you can't say that you know him well, let alone his interaction with May. His not getting along with her is actually very common; believe me." And here, Brock grinned fondly. "Actually, it reminds me a lot of you and Ash. . . It's one of the ways we all can tell both of you couples actually belong together, even if that one person – the fortuneteller – doesn't." After he was finished with his reminiscing, he blinked and turned back to Misty. "So, what do you say you go out to the lobby and call of this whole bad dating game experience, and we go back to what we do best? You and Ash try to kill each other, May and Drew try to verbally rip each other's heads off, and Max, Pikachu, and I stand there and watch until we can't take it any longer and we decide that we all need a quick fix. . . thus, the _Thundershock_ing begins."

"Look, you may think that it's okay to just go back to normal, but it's not. . . I want to see this through. . . ! Nothing you say can stop me!" Misty got up and headed for the door, not looking back, and Brock tried one last time to stop her.

"Misty, you said that you asked May what she would do if it came down to gaining Drew for herself or letting him go – allowing him to be happy! Well, what did she choose? You never told me. . . She had to give you an answer. . . and you must not have told me what it was because you didn't like it." Misty did stop in her tracks, and she turned her head just slightly so that he could see half of her face.

". . . She said that she'd probably keep him for herself – that it would take a lot for her to ultimately give him up for good. . . Is that all you have to ask me? Can I go now? Ash and May will be leaving soon, and they still need the directions to the restaurant."

"Just one more thing; knowing how you used to act around girls who showed a potentially friendly-romantic interest in Ash, and knowing how you forced them back, and now hearing May's reaction to the same type of situation, if ever it should come along. . . I just have to wonder. . . why can't you be that selfish any longer?"

"Because I was just a kid then, and he was just a crush – to all of the girls who tried to court him. Now we're older, he means more, it's serious. So c'mon; this room is now off-limits. Let's go see the two. . . er, _datee's_. . . off." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder and nodded Brock in the direction of the hallway leading to the lobby, and he sighed, nevertheless rising from his seat on the bed and agreeing to join her in her trek to the front of the Center.

When they reached the counter where Nurse Joy was standing, it was to see May sitting on one of the cushioned benches, looking extremely anxious, with her vision so focused on the ground that her hair was practically matted against her eyes; and it was for good reason that she felt that way, considering Drew was standing only seven meters away, looking cool and uncaring, continuing to just stare at her. It was not the best of displays.

Misty sighed and went to sit beside the other girl, knowing that it would be more worthwhile to give her the directions to the restaurant, rather than Ash, who had yet to even show himself, and who had had five and a half years to prove just how incapable he was of taking said directions, even if they were perfectly accurate and easily understood by everyone else in the vicinity.

". . . So, as you can see, it's just a couple blocks from here, and – May? Are you listening?" Misty asked, holding up a hand in front of the Hoenn girl's face and snapping her fingers to wake her up from her reverie. It did work, and the redhead was just about to make another comment when Ash finally graced the room with his presence. . .

. . . Which was a disaster. Now, whether or not he had done that on purpose was unsure, because, well, his hair had always been unmanageable, so the comb teeth that were actually broken off and tangled into his raven locks were understandable. His attempts to clean the dirt off of his cheeks had gone horribly awry, unfortunately, as now they just looked completely red and raw. And his clothes. . . Well, the suit seemed to be a cheesy knock-off of one of Brock's things – the type of thing that the breeder would use to try and get a date – however, the bowtie was hanging loosely because he couldn't have tied it right, and the cuffs of his dress-shirt were half curled around his palm. His slacks looked as though he'd rolled them up into a ball and sat on them for a couple of hours in an attempt to make them as wrinkled as possible.

To put it simply, he looked as though he'd gone through some type of explosion.

Misty, May, Brock, Max, and Drew were not the only ones to blink and stutter at his appearance; oh, no. The entire room had gone completely silent, other than the occasional cough of embarrassment.

". . . You cannot be expecting to go out in public in that!" Misty was the first to make a statement. Ash looked up, and at first he seemed to be pleased that they were still on common speaking terms. . . and then he realized that he'd just been insulted.

"You have no right to criticize, Miss Unfashionable! I can't help it if this is my first time in almost four years where I've actually had to do something with myself like this! And, let's not forget whose fault it is that I'm even going out dressed so uptight to begin with, right?" He pointed a finger accusingly at her as she stomped up to him, looking forward to a good, old-fashioned argument. . . Unfortunately, at that statement, she lost any competitive means she may have been holding onto.

"Whatever; now c'mon. . . I've got something that I wanna say to you and May before you go. And don't worry, because I already gave her the directions, so there's no way you can get lost on the way there." She gave the most eerie smirk she could ever have managed before leading him over to the front door, and May joined the two there.

". . . Hey! I'll have you know that—"

"—There's only ten minutes until your reservation is up for grabs." Misty interrupted his retaliation, "Now, I want you two to get there, and I want you to. . . have a good time. I don't want you to think about me and Drew, or what happened yesterday. I just want you to think about being there with each other and getting along and what could possibly. . . come to fruit from that." Misty looked away and clenched her fists for the slightest of seconds before turning back to face them again. "And don't go on about how it's hopeless or that it's impossible, because we're all just teenagers; we're too young to be as serious as all of that, right? So. . . you know; get going. _And have fun_ or face the wrath of my mallet."

"Fine," it was Ash's turn to sigh, as Misty stood aside and allowed both him and May to exit through the front door. . . Only, May wasn't moving. "Hey; what's going on? You know, I can't exactly go anywhere without you. . . My map-reading and directing skills may have improved, but that doesn't mean I'm psychic. . . I still need you to at least tell me where we're supposed to be going to."

"Huh? Oh, sorry," the Hoenn girl started awkwardly, but then she turned on her heel, uttered a quick excuse along the lines of, ". . . Be right back. . . !" And disappeared past the lobby and towards the trainers' dorms. Everyone stood there, wondering for just a moment if she'd maybe gotten cold feet at the last second, when, quite suddenly, she reappeared, and she had added the strangest garment to her overall attire.

She had the dress, she had the shoes, she had the barrette. . . However, evidently, that still wasn't enough, because now there was a large, bright orange bow tied around her neck. Maybe she was trying to make Ash look like less of a natural disaster, or maybe she actually thought it fit well with the rest of her dating costume-wear. . . When everyone gaped openly at her choice of an accessory, she didn't bat an eye, but simply continued walking outside.

"C'mon, Ash, it's this way." She pointed positively, and he followed after her in a solemn step. Misty watched them go and then, resolving herself not to get involved any further, not to stalk them, not to disgrace them with sabotage, she settled herself back down on one of the trainers' resting couches in the Sootopolis Pokemon Center lobby to await their return.

OoO

To quote an awkward Christmas card, the restaurant environment was as pretty as a picture. Ash and May were sat outside at a wrought-iron table, painted white, covered with a simple sky blue table cloth, and a large umbrella shading them from the noon-time sun. The seats were padded and comfortable, and as the two sat there, looking through the menu's they'd received from their waiter, they busied themselves with that fact, hoping to distract themselves – not to mention each other – from the dangerous waters they'd gotten entangled in.

They did _not_ want to be there.

Well, maybe that wasn't the case. So far, the service had been pretty good, the atmosphere was brilliant, and the food smelled wonderful, even though half of the things they'd looked at so far were named in another language. . . So let's rephrase, shall we?

They did not want to be there with _each other_.

Fellow customers were staring at them because they looked so ridiculous in their mismatched clothes, and they felt miserable for putting themselves, one another, and their friends through everything that was currently going on. But Misty's words of advice deterred them from falling into too much of a quagmire of despair.

Ash and May had agreed to have fun. With each other. On a date.

Ash sighed; it was time to get the 'fun' started, then.

". . . So, th – that bow. . . it was a. . . a nice touch." He nodded at it in affirmation and she looked down at it, too, mildly surprised at the effort he was making to have everything go alright. However, the shock didn't last long, and May wasn't surprised that his compliment, no matter how much of a lie it obviously was, meant nothing to her.

". . . Thanks; I just felt that something was missing, you know? And then this came to mind. . ." As she replied, she couldn't help but wonder what a certain male Coordinator's opinion might have been, had they been going on aforementioned date together. . . However, there was no way she'd probably ever know now.

"May I take your order?" A young woman asked, stepping up to them and holding out a small black-folded notepad. Ash and May glanced at each other, then at their menus, and then at each other again, because, while they'd been talking, they hadn't really bothered to look over anything they might have actually wanted to eat. . . Not anything that they could understand, anyway. However, seeing as they wanted everything to be over and done with as soon as possible, they cleared their throats, skimmed the first page, and picked the first thing with a picture that looked edible.

"I'll have the Tomato Basil soup, please." May stated in the most assured tone that she could muster, considering she'd never had the stuff before.

Ash was having just a bit more difficulty, however, and so he decided to simply close his eyes and wing it; the resulting pictured item would then be his choice for lunch.

". . . Uhm, this one, I guess." He said, showing the waitress what he'd gotten stuck with and wrinkling his nose dispassionately. He was supposed to be the boy with the bottomless pit for a stomach, though, so it wasn't very fair of him to turn something down just because he couldn't recognize what it actually was. . .

"And for your drinks?" The woman asked with a quirked eyebrow, taking down the notes necessary to turn the order in. She almost seemed to be holding back a laugh as well.

"Oh, uh, a Coke for me, and. . . ?" May started, turning questioningly to Ash.

". . . I'll have the same." Ash sighed, grateful that there was at least one thing he knew of quite well. The two handed their menus over and then sat back and waited in complete silence. They didn't want to talk about anything much at all, seeing as getting too chummy with each other at this point might mean that they were becoming even _more_ compatible by the second. . .

. . . But when it came down to it, the sheer stillness of it all was not for them, and so they attempted to bring up at least one thing to focus on until their food came out and they could get a start on eating.

"So, do you remember how we met? You know, that was kind of funny, in a twisted, repetitive sort of way. . ." Ash began awkwardly, placing a hand behind his head and scratching; a sweatdrop was added to cause affect.

"Yea, well, you're just lucky that I'm not more like Misty; otherwise I'd have followed you around at first just for the purpose of forcing you to pay me back for that bike you destroyed. . . ! Be grateful that I'm a little more forgiving than that." May allowed a small grin to follow the comment, feeling slightly more at ease now than she had before with the situation.

". . . But no one does it like her, anyway; or haven't you noticed? You're missing a tomboy costume, red hair in a unique side-ponytail, and a mallet that's. . . obviously. . . permitted State-approved upgrades." They laughed more openly as the raven-haired trainer finished his comment.

"You're just lucky that she wasn't here to hear that. . ." May added, and then moved on to another topic, "And what about when you found out that I was related to the Gym Leader of Petalburg City? And when Max and I met Brock and saw him flip out on Nurse Joy for the first time?"

"Yea, that was great; although it wasn't the first time that someone hid their family relations from me. . . And your reaction to Brock was priceless. . . ! I think, sometimes, that it would make a major-motion picture if we recorded all of the times he used one of his lines on a girl and got turned down. . . We would make millions with something like that since it holds comedy and a moral."

"Yea; the moral is 'Don't ever trust this guy with your love-life. . .'" May added, figuring that most would surely live to regret it. . . even if Brock's opinion on certain romances were obviously not so farfetched. "What about the fact that he could tell just by looking at her, that the Nurse Joy of Rustboro City had eyelashes a fourth of an inch longer than any other Joy you'd ever encountered?"

". . . What, after all this time, you still think that _that's_ the strangest thing about him?"

There were two seconds of silence before she nodded her head.

"You've got a point."

They both lifted their glasses to make a toast to their assortment of companions, but as the straws reached their mouths, they caught each other's eye. It was at this point that they both burst into light peals of laughter, so much so that they practically tipped their drinks all over the table.

Just as they were making the joint effort to clean up the mess, their waiter arrived with the food. It was shocking, but they'd spent almost a half-an-hour simply enjoying one another's company, even through all of the anxiety that they were supposed to be feeling.

They awkwardly regained their seats and their waitress, not affording to look anything less than tolerable of their behavior, placed their orders in front of them. May's was decent enough; a creamy tomato soup sprinkled with basil spices. It was thick and steaming heavily, proving that it had just been prepared.

Ash's meal, however, was nothing as simple as that. It looked like a burrito in a way, but it was filled with some sort of weird cream, and topped with. . . Dare he even imagine it. . . ? Tomatoes, spinach, and shrimp? It looked disastrous to even attempt to eat it. . .

"Er, excuse me. . . but what is this again?" He asked, pointing at the plate in front of him and trying to sound as smart as he could, which was difficult.

The woman scrunched up her nose disapprovingly and tapped her pen irritatingly against her notepad as she replied to him, "Shrimp and spinach crepe, filled with pesto sauce. It's what you told me to order for you."

The _name_ even horrified Ash.

The waitress proceeded to walk away and he faced his lunch again, resolving to try it before knocking it. . . However, he'd never liked spinach before that day. . . And although he loved shrimp, how could any person ever think of placing it in the same dish as spinach? It was. . .

Not able to think of an adjective horrible enough to describe it, he knelt down and smelled what he was going to be forced to eat. He was just getting ready to force the first bite into his mouth when a snort of derisive laughter sounded from across the table.

He looked up and glared; May was smirking as she playfully stirred her completely edible meal, as though hoping to get a rise out of him.

"Oh, so this is funny? How about we switch, then? Do you wanna try it?" He took his knife and fork and cut a small piece off of the end of his crepe, spearing it at the end of his utensil and prodding it in May's direction.

She half-shrieked and held up a napkin in front of her face to protect herself.

"C'mon, stop. . . !" She doubled up again and he relented, decidedly pushing his tray away from him and sighing dejectedly.

"And I was hungry, too. . . Oh, well. . . ! I guess that it's on to dessert!" He said, before May tutted.

"At least wait until I'm finished!"

". . . Oh. . . Okay. . ." He collapsed further into his chair as though wasting away and, noticing his somber demeanor, the Hoenn girl succumbed to his persona and hurriedly began sipping at her soup. After all, the sooner she was done, the sooner they could move on to the sweets. And he wasn't the only one to be looking forward to them. . .

Less than ten minutes later, they were looking through their second menu that afternoon, trying to decide what to eat to polish off their lunch.

"Oh, how about this?" Ash asked excitedly, pointing at something labeled 'Le Fromage'. The description said, 'Brie, fontina and Danish blue with assorted berries and a port sauce'. "Or this?" And then he was pointing at the 'Vanilla Crème Brulee', which was labeled with the explanation of 'Rich and creamy custard with a hint of vanilla with a caramelized sugar crust'. "And look at this thing called. . . er. . . Far ni-ine. . ." He attempted to pronounce it, failing miserably.

May sighed, although in a way, she found it rather amusing. "Or how about we just stick with what we know, huh?" She ripped the menu from his hands and returned it to the waitresses arms, and then stated clearly so that there could be no mispronunciation leading to their receiving something along the lines of whatever Ash had been stating above, "We'll have two orders of your Crème Caramel, thanks."

The waitress was gone again, and as soon as she was out of earshot, Ash bothered to ask the question that had been plaguing him for the past. . . two-point-five seconds.

"Two orders of the what?"

"Crème Caramel. It's just French vanilla custard topped with caramel sauce; it sounded normal – at least it did compared to what you wanted to get. Let's not forget the last time you tried to order something." She reminded him with a quirked eyebrow, and he grinned sheepishly.

"Oh. Right."

Overall, and they both hated to admit it to themselves, it had not been a bad afternoon together. The minutes they spent enjoying their dessert were marked with jokes shot back and forth between the two, and when they got up to leave, they decided that it would be only fair to split the check, which turned out to be fairly pricy, considering Ash hadn't touched his main course at all, except when he'd tried to force the first piece down May's throat for laughs.

The conversational walk back to the PokeCenter was light and airy, and it seemed like the perfect successor type of thing to their behavior at the restaurant – the perfect relationship. This upset their inner demeanors even more, even though they didn't voice their seemingly minor concerns to one another. How would they let the other know. . . ?

It did cross both of their minds – and they were just a little grateful for the thought – that at least no certain strangers had walked up to them and told them that they looked absolutely brilliant together; most unlike Ash and Misty, who used to get that comment all the time. . .

The PokeCenter happened to just be nearing their eyesight when something that seemed to note importance happened; and that was that May shuddered from the cool afternoon breeze.

Now, obviously, and Ash felt that he owed himself a pat on the back for this brilliant deduction, that meant that she was chilly. He cautiously weighed his choices. Clearly, piggy-backing her was out, because that had been the wrong answer last time, and she was wearing a dress. He had a feeling even suggesting anything along the lines of picking her up into his arms – (no matter what position that happened to be in) – would not bode well with her. Running the rest of the way would not have been the best option either, because she was wearing heels. Ash may have been a guy, and Brock would weep over the loss of the raven-haired Pokemon trainer's manhood for this, but he did know that it wasn't a good idea for a girl to run in heels. . . But that left only one alternative. . .

"Uh, since you're cold. . ." He started awkwardly, shouldering his dinner jacket off of his back and holding it out for her to take, ". . . here you go."

She stared for a few seconds, blinking, and then grinned gratefully before accepting it, pulling it around her shoulders and holding it in her grasp.

"Thanks, Ash."

The two continued the rest of the two hundred meters to the Center, stopping just in time so that no one sitting inside the lobby would be able to see them had they glanced outside the windows. Neither one of the two datee's looked at each other, for fear that the other might not feel the same as they did about what had happened earlier that day. . .

"So, we had fun, huh?" May asked, edging around the topic, and yet bowling straight into it at the same time. She scuffed her heel at the dirt, watching the imprint that showed there afterward as though it was the most interesting thing in the world at that moment.

"Er, yea. . . We did. Listen, May. . . about today. . ."

". . . Are you going to kiss me?" She asked suddenly.

"_What?_" He near-shrieked, stumbling backwards, away from her, as she looked up at him, staring into his face to see his reaction. He pointed at himself, then at her, opening his mouth and then closing it again as no words were coming out. Pinching himself on the cheek, he found his voice, ". . . _Ow!_ I – I mean, me – kiss you? Us, kissing? Here, now? In this lifetime? May, I – I can't. . . ! I don't. . . I mean, it's not that I. . . Why are you laughing? . . . Stop laughing! This isn't funny!" He stomped his foot angrily as she let out a giggle.

"Oh, c'mon; we've already been through this, haven't we? I don't like you that way, you don't like me that way. . . This wasn't our idea; we were forced. I was just playing with your head. And see? It was fun for me." She grinned cheekily at him before removing his jacket from her shoulders and handing it back to him, "Now, I suggest you take this and that – besides tonight, because I'm sure that Misty will want to know all the details, and I'll probably be inclined to tell Drew everything, too – we never speak of this again. . . What do you say?"

". . . So, you're not gonna force me into some weird commitment?" He asked hopefully, ripping his coat from her hands and hurriedly pulling it over his arms.

"Of course not! Just because some wound-up weirdo at a mall says we've got something going on, and just because a few mild set-backs that could lead us to what we really want happen to fall through temporarily, that doesn't mean that we have to be glued together, hip-to-hip. The mall may be my sanctuary, but it is not my master, I quote-ith." May added, waving a finger in his face.

"Well then. . ." Ash cleared his throat and joined her in a joined moment of clarity, shaking her hand almost professionally, as though they'd just made a contract, ". . . it was nice dating you. I hope I never have to again."

"Here, here."

And they entered the Center.

OoO

The first thing they noticed was that everyone seemed to be in the same basic positions they'd been in when the two had left. Brock was attempting to coax Nurse Joy into a moonlit stroll around the park while Max attempted to pull him away from the counter. Unfortunately, he was failing miserably, seeing as the breeder had seen this coming and had, therefore, placed a firm grip around the countertop. Drew had taken out Roselia and was talking to him in the same corner of the lobby that he'd been in before, although what about was unsure. Misty was sitting in the same exact seat, looking almost languid, but very drearily so. . . She was obviously upset somehow, seeing as she couldn't even grasp enough strength to get up and help Max contain Brock's hormones.

"So. . . I'll take Drew, and you take Misty? And how about we do this separately, so there're no distractions?" May asked, just to be positive.

Ash cleared his throat with a confident nod and strode forward.

Because it was such a lovely day, and mid-afternoon, a lot of the trainers were keeping themselves occupied elsewhere, meaning the lobby was mostly empty, except for the poor prospects mentioned above. When Misty, Drew, Brock, and Max finally did notice that Ash and May had returned, they attempted not to look too interested in their expressions, while at the same time trying to see just how much the two were giving away.

Unfortunately, the datee's had turned inexplicitly stone-faced.

"Hey, Myst; how about we go somewhere else. . . ?" Ash asked carelessly, offering her a hand as a polite yet careless gesture, so that she still couldn't tell where he was going with this, and she was worried as she nodded her consent and followed him outside.

May headed towards the corner where Drew was sitting, and the male Coordinator called back his plant-type Pokemon unexpectedly; back at the main desk, Brock had noticed how serious things were probably going to get, and had made way for the dormitories. The younger Beech sibling's job was done, therefore, and so he disappeared to some anonymous place as well.

May said nothing as she sat down beside Drew, and Drew didn't comment on anything either. After all, he didn't want to grace her with the knowledge that he was curious about the events that had taken place between her and Ash, and she didn't want to give anything away until he was at least inclined to admit something to her, no matter how small. . . And so, for a quarter of an hour, the two just sat there beside each other, not saying a thing. . . Just waiting for the other to crack. . .

Until. . .

"Oh, c'mon already! This isn't even worth eavesdropping on anymore!" Brock's shout echoed from beyond the threshold to the trainer's dorm hallway, and although a certain part of her wanted to run back there and kick him swiftly and silently for good measure, May held herself back and gave in to the fact that if she and Drew didn't start the conversation now, they probably never would.

"So. . ." May started awkwardly, coming to the vast conclusion that she was starting to hate both that word and the range of emotions that seemed to float alongside it. "I just came back. . . from the date with Ash. . ." She continued oh-so obviously, but it wasn't to get a rise out of him. She sincerely wasn't sure he'd even bothered to remember, or notice when she left before. "And I won't lie to you; it went really well, Drew."

He raised his eyebrow at her, as though asking her whether he should even care at all. "And why are you telling me this? If it went so great, then you should continue moving along, enjoying that wonderful, destined life you've got going for you. It's not like we need any sort of closure or anything; it's not like I liked you, or that we had anything going on."

Okay; his attitude was getting highly irritating, and May wasn't going to waste time wondering if she should bother telling him how she felt about it.

"Fine; okay! I get it! Maybe you don't like me! It's not my place to say whether or not you do! But at least hear me out. . . !" She sighed, almost in relief, when the male Coordinator looked her in the eye, and she knew that she'd finally gotten his attention. ". . . That date – it was great! – but it wasn't what I wanted either way! Ash and I. . . While we were out, we joked around, we had fun, we enjoyed ourselves. . . But those are the exact same types of things we could do as friends, and we have and always will be comfortable with the relationship we've had up until now! So now the experiment is over and we know for sure. . . Yea, Ash and I would probably live out our lives in blissful harmony. . . and then we'd probably die from never living.

"So let me give this another go. . ." She sighed again, cleared her throat, and started in the strongest tone she could muster, "I don't like Ash. I. Like. You. I don't know why, or how, or when, or any of those details, but I don't think it matters. . . And I won't try and make this decision for you, because – obviously – that was the wrong thing to do last time, too, wasn't it? But I'll just let you know now, and then you can have your time to mull everything over, in case that's what you need to do."

She reached her feet in the most gracious way that she could, only managing to take one step, before Drew managed to utter one word – one murmured word that she almost missed hearing. . . but she did catch it.

". . . _Sorry_."

"What was that?" Oh, and now she was smirking. She'd caught him now; he was hers. There was definitely no escaping. . .

"Your brother said that I made you cry this morning, and since I'm such an ever-dashing gentleman – no matter how much of a rival I may be – I still owe you an apology for that, if it was really my fault. So, I'm sorry."

"Oh, okay. . . Thanks. That means a lot to me." She grinned gratefully at him as she regained her seat once again, but this motion was just in time for him to get up, deciding that the deed was done, and he could now make his escape before embarrassing himself any further, or managing to voice anymore thoughtless confessions. "Hey, wait. . . Where are you going. . . ?"

"Oh, I don't know. . . Maybe to train my Pokemon for _real_ this time. . . or maybe to have a chat with that strange, blind-as-a-bat, older friend of yours who's been watching us for the past half-an-hour." Drew shrugged carelessly with a confident expression on his face as he made his way steadily towards the trainer's dorms. He was just about to make a clean break when May realized that something was missing.

"Hold it!" She called out to him suddenly, and he screeched to a halt and reeled around to face her again. She was on her feet in an instant and standing before him in the next, holding out her hand expectantly, "Okay, Drew, don't think you can get away with it. . . Where's my rose?"

"Your. . . ? O-kay. . ." He finished brokenly, spun around on the spot, then, the next thing May knew, there was a rose in his hand. He held it out for her to take, and she accepted it charmingly.

"Oh, _very_ smooth." She smiled at him and held the bud close to her.

"I try." Drew shrugged again, smirking in an assured sort of way. "And since we're almost finished this little exchange, let me just add in a word of advice."

"Er, and what is that. . . ?" She blinked confusedly.

"It's a nice look for you; the dress especially. . ."

Her eyes widened. After all, she'd never known Drew could give a compliment before that time. . .

". . . But, next time, lose the bow."

And then the moment was over.

Meanwhile, outside of the PokeCenter, Ash and Misty had walked halfway across town, entering a very commonly known territory for them at this point in time. And as the redhead became more aware of that fact with every step she took, she also became more and more tentative about the discussion that she thought was going to be taking place. . .

"Well, this is eerily familiar," Misty noted, observing the fact that Ash had led her to the very same area that – just the day before – she'd sat him down at and coaxed him into going out with May. What were the chances that now, the very same bench would be used to finalize the breaking of her heart?

How very ironic. . . Though, she _had_ brought it upon herself.

"So, how'd it go?" She started solemnly, eyeing him cautiously for any symptoms that might give away the detail that he was uncomfortable.

"Actually, you must be pleased to know. . . it went really well." He sounded totally unashamed and nonchalant as he replied, collapsing next to her as though thoroughly exhausted from the overly enjoyable afternoon he'd had. Not even able to imagine what could have happened between the two of them, Misty could only feel the discomfort well up within her – the grief, the pain – as she clasped her hands tightly in her lap, already knowing full-well what was coming next.

". . . I suppose that you've finally got your answer, at least." Ash sighed, and then grinned, ruffling his hair, bowling straight into the topic at hand, "So will you _please_ get over it now so that we can move on?"

"What?"

"What did you expect to happen? When you first got here, you told me yourself that you already knew how much better May and I got along compared to you and I. . . ! Of course things were naturally going to go better! But that really has nothing to do with the fact that we have some unseen, mysterious interest in each other. There really is no hidden agenda between us. Today. . . well. . . it just verified what we'd always assumed. When we got to the restaurant, we were not having any fun at all. . . but I paid attention to what you said, and I started up a conversation with her. . . and before I knew it, May and I were laughing just like we always do. Do you get it?"

". . . Not really. . ."

"We were laughing _just like we always do_. Why should we have to change a thing? Especially if we don't want to. . . That's just pointless. You and I; we're more complicated. We started out rocky, then we grew to be the best of friends, even though we can still sometimes get a little hasty with each other, and then it changed again. . . whatever there was between us. It's not so unnatural."

Misty blinked, staring at Ash as if seeing him in a whole new light. Inching her hand along her thigh, she leant across the few inches of bench between them and pinched his arm.

"Ow. . . ! Hey; what was that for?"

"Well, I guess neither of us is dreaming."

". . . No. . ." He growled aggravatedly, rubbing tenderly at his reddening flesh. "You do know that, for things like that, you're supposed to pinch yourself, right?"

"Yea, but I also wanted to make sure that you were in your right mind. . . Most people who aren't usually lose most of their senses, like sight, smell, and touch. . . but I guess you're okay after all. Huh; who knew you had it in you to be so smart?"

"You know, I'd be insulted right now, if I wasn't so pleased by the fact that that must mean you finally believe me over anything else."

"I guess I do." They grinned at each other.

"So. . ." Ash started, swallowing nervously and leaning forward a bit, staring into her eyes, ". . . I think this is the part where we're supposed to become utterly cliché and school-girl-giddy and everything and share our first kiss. . ."

". . . I think so, too. . ." Misty agreed, and he was well-aware of the fact that she was leaning in as well. . .

. . . They were almost there when there was the sudden sound of someone thudding and moaning as they hit the ground, the crash of some type of expensive technological device, and Ash and Misty, in retaliation to the commotion, ended up bashing there foreheads together.

". . . OW!" They groaned in unison, massaging at their faces, not even gaining the chance to look around for the source of the disorder.

"That's it! I'm done. . . !" Ash continued, pointing at Misty immaturely, "You girls are nothing but trouble! I mean, first it's mallets, then it's poisonous cooking, then it's evil, conniving schemes of setting me up with _other_ girls, and then pinching, and now _this_. . . ! I can't take it anymore!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, don't act like you don't know what I mean. . . ! I'm talking about the—"

"—Oh, man, it's ruined! The video camera's completely destroyed! Brock's gonna kill me!"

Ash and Misty blinked, staring awkwardly at each other for two-point-five seconds before they both caught on rapidly to the statement that had just been spoken.

"Did you just say you recorded us?" They asked one another at the same time in an irritable tone, "Of course not! How could I when I was with you?" They continued exasperatedly, "Really? Then, who was it?" They finished in complete synchronization.

It was at that point that they both turned to see Max attempting to raise himself to his feet with a very battered video/audio gadget in his hands in his haste to make a swift escape.

"It's Max!" Ash said, while Misty took a more physical approach, grabbing the younger Beech sibling by the collar of his shirt to keep him from getting away.

"Okay, just what did you think you were doing. . . ? And give me that! It's clearly evidence that we can use to. . . _prosecute_. . . you." She glared evilly as she nabbed the recorder from his hands and threw it into Ash's, who just managed to stumble across it before it landed on the ground again.

"Ack. . . ! No! It was all Brock's idea!"

". . . Brock? Why would Brock do this? Er, why would he make _you_ do this?" Ash asked. "Is there some bet going on or something?"

". . . Well, you see. . ." Max sighed when Misty tightened her grip on the back of his shirt, proving her intent on not allowing him any chance of fleeing, ". . . There's this thing he's got going on. . . It's – it's not really a _bet_. . . because everyone knew that it would happen – you know what I mean – you two getting together. . . but everyone wanted to actually see it. . . So Brock offered videotaped proof. . . for a price." And then Max went frantic, ". . . And now it's all ruined. . . !"

"And you'd better be thankful that it is!" Misty shouted, placing him on the ground as softly as she could, but poking him in the back of the head for good measure so that he knew that he'd better be on his way before she changed her mind. "And you tell Brock when you see him that he'd better watch himself!" She shrieked as Max took off towards the PokeCenter.

She sniffed irritably as Ash walked up beside her and placed his free arm around her shoulder, the other still clasping the damaged video recorder.

"What's wrong?" He asked, worried that she might actually be upset about something.

". . . I don't know, actually. . . I mean, I guess I just never thought that our first almost-kiss would be ruined by something so. . . _idiotic_. . ."

"Huh; I guess you've got a point." Ash glanced at the recorder in such a way that it clearly stated he wasn't pleased. "Still, how much more proof do you need? Half of the shipping world was ready and willing to pay to see our first inclination of a relationship. . . ! They knew it was going to happen someday! I don't think it's right for you to doubt it if half the world is finding it perfectly within the confines of reality that 'we' can happen."

"Yea, I guess. . . You know, Brock was telling me earlier today that I should try and be a little be more selfish when it came down to my feelings for you. . ." She grinned and held him close, evidently forgetting all about the argument they'd been half-in the middle of before Max had stepped into the picture, ". . . I think I might just give that a shot."

And then, before they knew it, the next day had come and begun to pass. Drew was on his way again, and Misty had decided to stick around, at least for a few days – or weeks – until whenever her sisters threw a fit and called her to ask for her assistance (or threatened to start handing out badges to passing trainers; whichever came first).

Ash and May weren't worried, it seemed, about the possibility of their 'long-distance relationships' although, technically, May wasn't in a relationship at all as of yet. But the fact that they weren't worried showed a growth yet to be seen in most modern teenagers. . . or a naivety yet to develop from.

Before everyone was to 'set sail' for the next destination, Ash asked to take a personal detour, and requested that everyone wait for him at the PokeCenter for a few extra minutes while he make a little special delivery.

The thing was, earlier that day, he'd requested that everyone get together for a sort of. . . group picture. May, Misty, Brock, Max, and even Drew had consented, and Ash had asked Nurse Joy to take the shot so that he could take place in it, too. . . and then he'd returned to the room that he and Misty had destroyed to write a short letter. (He had talked to Joy about that, too, and they'd agreed on a payment plan).

He went to the postal office and requested that it be delivered to the booth of the Sootopolis seer at the local shopping center by that evening, and paid them the required price, seeing as there was no fixed address, and he and his friends would be leaving town by that time. The ordeal was left at that.

The seer was in the middle of one of her grand fortunes when the slightly nettled and, in her eyes, meddling delivery man arrived with a small envelope addressed simply to 'The Sootopolis Seer'. Huh; that had a nice ring to it. . . Either way, she signed for it, thanked the man, finished her fortune, and took a five minute break so that she could see what the message said.

Cautiously ripping open the envelope, she caught sight of the photograph first. It was a beautiful shot of the entire group, although, as anyone might have guessed, she obviously didn't approve of the seating arrangements. Ash and Misty were locking arms, and May was still holding dear the rose that Drew had given her the evening before. Although not letting on to much consciously, other than the fact that he was standing next to her in a cool sort of way – his hands in his pockets –the male Coordinator was slightly red in the face, having noticed also that she was still carrying that little item around. Max and Brock were neutral, in the center, Max in the front since he was smaller, and Brock, in the back. . . looking horribly crippled. . .

It seemed that Misty had succeeded in beating the crap out of him for that whole tape-recording incident.

Discarding of the photo, the seer returned to the envelope. Obviously, there had to be more than just that; right?

. . . And, indeed, there was, but it wasn't much; only the shortest of notes, written in Ash's rapid, messy scrawl, because he'd been in such a rush to send it out to her.

"_You were wrong."_

OoO

**Notes** – Okay; first of all, I've got a couple of apologies for you all.

1.) I'm sorry that it took a little while longer to update this time around. . . although, at least now you know it's finished. YAY!

2.) I'm also sorry about the extreme length this time around. I didn't mean to do it, but once I got started, and I reached the middle of Ash and May's date. . . I realized that it was kinda getting to be a bit crazy. . . I just didn't want to go back on my word about this being the last part, though. So I hope you're all okay with this. Sorry, again.

Moving on, and second of all, let's see. . . uh. . . Thanks to all of you who've reviewed this! I've got to admit, when I first started out, I was kind of scared! I mean, I was only getting nine reviews per chapter. . . but then, by chapter three, I started getting more. . . and then more. . . So I'm back in my comfort zone now. In fact, I'm sincerely hoping that, with this final update, I can crack **one hundred reviews**! Do you all think you can help me reach that goal? I mean, it's only – what? – fourteen reviews? C'mon; you all can do that. . .

Anyway, next topic. . . (I'm on a roll, aren't I?) I don't really know what to do with myself now. I'm thinking that I could start a new, shorter, fic. I've got this one AAMR-centered two-shot in my head that is already half-written. . . and I've also got this other one that's going to be four or five chapters long (short chapters; nothing like this), but it's going to include some one-sided Advanceshipping for most of the fic. Believe me, though; it has a purpose. My crazy idea's that I don't have any beliefs in always end up having a purpose. Besides, it ends up Pokeshippy. Although, May ends up being with Gary. That's the other catch. Lol; sorry. . .

The other thing I could do is not write a new ficcie up and just try to start updating things that I have up already, like Illicit Saints and The Strangest Kind of Love. I've got 13,500 words on the next chapter of IS typed up already, but I'm kind of stuck on a certain part there. . . However, with the proper incentive (possibly meaning more time to work on it), I could have that ready to post in a couple of weeks. I also have a couple thousand words on the next chapter of SKoL. The problem I have with that is quite simple, actually. . . and that's the housewarming party. I've never thrown one, never been to one. . . so I don't really know how I'd ever describe one. . . I can write out the humor of it. . . (Ash stealing the pigs-in-the-blanket platter) but other than that. . .

Anyway, please let me know in your review, for those of you who have an opinion! And for those who didn't know, SKoL does have Contestshipping in it! In fact, just wait until chapter ten! You'll find some major spoilage / hintage in that one:D

Anyway, thanks for reading and – pretty please – just grace me with a few last reviews this time around?


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